News 14:00

BULLETIN 23 April 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cabinet is pleased with the Road Accident Fund’s turnaround strategy 
# Cosatu demands urgent action against employers failing to pay contributions to workers’ pension funds
# And tennis:  Rafael Nadal is expected to make his swan song at the Laver Cup in September 

# Cabinet is pleased with the Road Accident Fund’s turnaround strategy which has resulted in major improvements in the settlements of claims within 120 days, and a 75-percent reduction in legal costs. The strategy has also seen a reduction of medical costs from 3.6-billion-rand in the 2019/20 financial year to 2.1-billion-rand in 2023/24. Cabinet says it had received a briefing on the implementation of the turnaround strategy for the RAF. This is aimed at simplifying the fund’s system, while also improving the administration of benefits and payouts to accident victims. 

# Cosatu demands urgent action against employers failing to pay contributions owed to workers’ pension funds. The federation welcomed the comprehensive report by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority into the large number of employers in both the private and public sectors, who owe billions of rands. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says over four-thousand employers, largely in the security, cleaning, metals, engineering and municipal sectors have been failing to pay for months and even years:

# International Relations minister Naledi Pandor has announced plans for South Africa and Egypt to launch a business council. This is aimed at increasing opportunities for trade and investment between the two countries. Pandor hopes to encourage the private sector and state-owned companies to come together in their efforts. She urges taking full advantage of the African Continental Free-Trade Agreement:

# Tennis: Spanish veteran Rafael Nadal confirmed his participation for Team Europa in this year’s Laver Cup competition against Team United States, taking place in Berlin, Germany, in September. This is expected to be his final tournament before his retirement. Team Europe’s captain, Björn Borg, describes Nadal as an absolute legend of the sport and a true champion in every sense of the word. This will be Borg’s last year as captain, with former Swiss great Roger Federer touted as taking over from next year.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-24-cents and the euro at 20-rand-51-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-79-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-147-dollars-7-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-298-dollars-36-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-3-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Former Tshwane Mayor Murunwa Makwarela has passed away this morning after a brief illness. The 52-year-old, who served as Tshwane speaker of council, was appointed mayor in February last year. Makwarela faced legal challenges after revelations of insolvency in 2016, rendering him ineligible for public office. He appeared in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court last week, where he failed to have the fraud case against him struck from the court roll. Tshwane speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana paid tribute to Makwarela:

Stay tuned for more news………….