News 09:00

BULLETIN 2 May 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA is concerned about unemployed graduates
# Prosecutors ask for a September retrial for Harvey Weinstein
# And soccer: Borussia Dortmund beat PSG to lead the Champions League semifinal tie

# ActionSA is calling for government to reflect on issues that perpetuate the prevalence of unemployed graduates in the country. According to Statistics South Africa, out of ten-million young people aged 15 to 24 years, 3.5-million of them were not employed or in education during the last three months of last year. ActionSA’s, Tutu Faleni, says it is disheartening to see university graduates join the continuously expanding pool of unemployment:

# The retrenchment of four-thousand-889 South African Post Office employees will go ahead. This is due to the business rescue practitioners’ application for funding from the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s Temporary Employment Relief Scheme has been rejected. The funding would have delayed the retrenchments by 12 months, effectively upskilling and retraining staff for possible job placements whilst still earning a salary. Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration commissioner, Willie Hlophe, says the financial challenges occasioned by the high wage bill are inevitable and cannot be remedied by TERS funding.

 # The GOOD Party has criticised Western Cape premier Alan Winde for shifting money from the province’s education and health departments to fund the provincial Safety Plan. The Western Cape Police Oversight and Community Safety Department’s budget for the 2024/2025 financial year is 763.4-million-rand. GOOD’s secretary-general, Brett Herron, says the provincial safety plan has not been a resounding success. He adds that Winde should apologise to the education and health sectors for his opportunism and stupid decision-making.

# Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, says prosecutors will be ready to retry disgraced Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein’s case by September. New York’s highest court last month overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction on sex crime charges and ordered a new trial. Judges cited errors in the way the trial had been conducted, including admitting the testimony of women who were not part of the charges against him. Bragg says they want justice for Weinstein’s victims:

# Soccer: Borussia Dortmund beat Paris St-Germain one-nil in their Champions League first-leg semifinal at Signal Iduna Park in Germany. Niclas Fullkrug’s first-half goal was enough to seal the victory. The two teams will now reconvene for the second leg in Paris next week Tuesday, with the winner meeting Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the final at Wembley on the first of June. Dortmund manager, Edin Terzic, says they deserved the victory:

# 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-408-dollars-86-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-320-dollars-14-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-92-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….