News 13:00

BULLETIN 2 May 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA in the Eastern Cape says the learner transport shutdown could have been avoided 
# Cape Town’s MyCiTi bus service recorded 1.6-million passenger journeys for March alone 
# And motorsport: South Africa’s premier motorsport event begins in Knysna today

# The DA in the Eastern Cape says the shutdown by taxi operators due to non-payment for learner transport operations could have been avoided entirely had premier Oscar Mabuyane kept his promises. The DA’s Marshall von Buchenroder says the premier promised in his state of the province address earlier this year that his government was aware of the problems within the programme and was working to address them:

# The City of Cape Town’s MyCiTi bus service has recorded 1.6-million passenger journeys in March alone. This is an increase of 233-thousand-163 journeys in comparison with the 1.4-million journeys recorded for March 2022. Mayoral committee member for Mobility, Rob Quintas, says the bus service provides scheduled, safe, reliable, affordable and dignified public transport to commuters. He says they are now expanding the bus service’s footprint to the metro-south east:

# Branded foods and beverages group, Clover, will lose its Halaal certification in August. The Muslim Judicial Council’s Halaal Trust says this is a stance against the Gaza conflict. The trust ceased certifying Clover products as Halaal since the beginning of this year. Chief operations official Moulana Zakariyah Philander explains that nine months were allocated to the phasing out of its logos, with remaining stock bearing the Halaal logo phased out by August. Clover was bought by Milco, a consortium headed by Israeli beverage firm Central Bottling Company, in 2019.

# The US Federal Reserve decided to hold interest rates steady for a sixth straight meeting, keeping the level at a 23-year high to fight stubborn inflation. The Fed does not expect to lower rates until it has greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably towards its target of two-percent. Federal Reserve chairperson Jerome Powell told a news conference it is likely that gaining such greater confidence will take longer than previously expected. He adds it is unlikely that the next policy rate move will be a hike.

# Motorsport: The 14th edition of South Africa’s premier motoring and motorsport lifestyle event, the Simola Hillclimb, begins in Knysna in the Southern Cape today. Enthusiasts will see a wide range of classic cars on Hedge Street this afternoon. From tomorrow, Simola Hill will become the scene of adrenaline-fuelled excitement, starting with practice sessions for the Classic Car Friday competitors, followed by qualifying rounds. This will all lead to the class finals and the thrilling all-or-nothing top-ten shootout on Sunday, to determine who will be crowned Classic Conqueror for 2024.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-61-cents and the euro at 19-rand-93-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-31-cents and Bitcoin trades at 57-thousand-731-dollars-79-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-303-dollars-19-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….