News 06:00

BULLETIN 2 May 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says the ANC will get more than an outright majority
# Turkey wants to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel
# And cricket: CSA’s management is concerned over the Proteas’ transformation challenges

# ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has once again expressed confidence that his party will get more than 50-percent of the votes in the upcoming general election. He addressed Cosatu’s main May Day rally in the Western Cape yesterday. The latest survey by global market research firm Ipsos, released last week, predicts that the ruling party will receive 40.2-percent of the vote. Ramaphosa says the ANC has proven over the past 30 years that it cares for the people of this country:

Meanwhile, DA leader John Steenhuisen has promised to create more job opportunities if elected into power in the elections on the 29th of this month. Yesterday, he delivered the main address at his party’s May Day celebrations in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town. He says his party has created eight out of every ten jobs in the country over the past five years. Steenhuisen has pledged the DA will create over 800-thousand new jobs in the Western Cape over the next five years:

# The Casual Workers Advice Office 2023 Strike Barometer recorded 83 strikes in South Africa last year, primarily wage-related. The strikes recorded don’t include multiple demonstrations that took place at universities, hospitals, and the State Information Technology Agency. According to the barometer, the other main reason behind the strikes is the seeking of permanent jobs. The barometer recorded the longest strike from July until November, a total of 104 days, between the South African Municipal Workers Union and the City of Tshwane.

# Johannesburg Emergency Services say City Power and Johannesburg Road Agency will begin their assessments of the damage, following an underground fire that broke out along the M1 highway yesterday. Preliminary findings indicate that a cable connecting the Braamfontein substation to the Fordsburg substation caught fire due to suspected cable theft and vandalism. City Power’s spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, says Braamfontein, Newtown, and Parktown are still without electricity:

# Turkey says it will join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ ordered Israel in January to refrain from acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians. Turkey will join Colombia in formally requesting to join the case against Israel. Turkey’s Foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, says they will continue to support the Palestinian people in all circumstances.

# Cricket: Cricket South Africa’s chief executive officer Pholetsi Moseki has admitted CSA is battling to find a solution to the lack of black African batters. This has seriously affected the transformation balance of the men’s T20 national team going to the T20 World Cup in the United States and the West Indies in June. Coach Rob Walter’s 15-man team announced on Tuesday contained no black African batter and only six players of colour – the lowest number the men’s team has taken to an ICC tournament since the 2016 T20 World Cup in India.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-56-cents and the euro at 19-rand-90-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-27-cents and Bitcoin trades at 57-thousand-789-dollars-7-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-326-dollars-16-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-59-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….