News 18:00

BULLETIN 3 July 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Business Unity South Africa urges forensic investigation into UIF expenditure
# MISA says Ford’s Artificial Intelligence failure proves human expertise cannot be replaced
# And rugby: The experienced tighthead prop, Babalwa Latsha, will lead a strong Bok Women side in the clash against America

# Business Unity South Africa says the Unemployment Insurance Fund should be placed under administration and subjected to a forensic investigation into its spending, citing ongoing governance failures and poor service delivery. The organisation states it’s withdrawing its representatives from the UIF board after six years of unsuccessful attempts to improve the fund. According to BUSA, workers continue to face delays and backlogs in accessing benefits, adding that confidence in the UIF has been severely undermined.

# The Motor Industry Staff Association says Ford’s decision in the US to rehire more than 300 experienced quality inspectors and engineers shows that artificial intelligence cannot replace skilled workers. According to the union, Ford’s AI systems failed to detect some quality and supply chain problems, making human expertise essential. MISA spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola urges employers to keep people at the centre of technological change to ensure quality, innovation and sustainable industrial growth:

# Union federation Cosatu says government needs to find an urgent solution to prevent the closure of Transalloys, South Africa’s last remaining manganese smelter. The company warned in December last year that 600 direct jobs and one-thousand-700 indirect jobs were at risk, as soaring electricity prices led to mounting financial losses. All furnace operations at its facility in Mpumalanga have stopped, as it faces permanent closure this month. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says the country cannot afford to lose so many jobs:

# A trial has begun with potential treatments for the species of virus behind the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Over one-thousand-400 cases and 438 deaths have been confirmed. There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the highly infectious species. The trial is sponsored by the World Health Organisation, and is being co-ordinated by scientists from the DRC, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. Ebola normally infects animals, but outbreaks among humans can sometimes start when people handle infected animals.

# Rugby: The most-capped Springbok Women tighthead prop, Babalwa Latsha, has been named captain for this season, and will lead the team against the USA Eagles Women at Ellis Park in Johannesburg tomorrow. The 32-year-old takes over the captaincy from Nolusindiso Booi, who retired last year. Only two players in the starting team did not feature at last year’s World Cup, Alichia Arries and Logan Welman. Coach Swys de Bruin has opted for a split of six forwards and two backs on the bench.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-23-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-57-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-66-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-808-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-162-dollars-52-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-10-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….