News 07:00

BULLETIN 22 May 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Media Monitoring Africa warns fake news threatens the democratic elections
# The UN appeals for an end to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza
# And rugby: The Sharks captain will miss the Challenge Cup final

# Media Monitoring Africa warns the rise of misinformation and disinformation on social media poses a significant threat to democratic elections. The organisation is working with the Electoral Commission to combat these issues through initiatives like Real411, allowing public reporting of misinformation to ensure credible elections. Communications manager Nomshado Lubisi-Nkosinkulu states the explosion of information makes it increasingly difficult to discern reality from falsehood. As the country approaches its seventh democratic elections, Lubisi-Nkosinkulu says other digital harms are inevitable and could undermine the integrity of the electoral process.

# The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa has decided to take a political posture regarding the upcoming national elections. NUMSA general-secretary, Irvin Jim, says given the worsening socio-economic conditions of the working class, the union aims to guide workers in their voting choices, urging them not to support right-wing, anti-worker parties. Jim has warned workers against voting for individual candidates, parties that promote xenophobia and racism amongst others:

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile says the government is committed to ensuring that young people are equipped with the necessary skills and qualifications to secure employment. He unveiled the South African National Service Institution in Pretoria yesterday. According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, youth aged 15-to-24 years and 25-to-34 years have the highest unemployment rates at 59.7-percent and 40.7-percent respectively. Mashatile says the government will solely focus on skilling the youth in sectors with high absorption capacity, connecting them to much-needed jobs.

# Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa will be visiting Medupi and Matimba power stations in Lephalale, Limpopo today. This is part of the minister’s ongoing efforts to acknowledge and appreciate the hard work of power station staff in improving generation performance. The visit comes at a time when the country has experienced over 50 consecutive days without load-shedding. Eskom’s energy availability factor has now breached the 70-percent mark for the first time in years.

# The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says the toll of death, injury, and destruction in Gaza is utterly immoral. About one-thousand-200 people, mostly civilians, were killed by Hamas on the seventh of October last year in Israel, with a further 250 taken hostage. More than 35-thousand people have been killed in Gaza. The UN’s, Edem Wosornu, says as the conflict persists and lives are threatened, civilians must be allowed to seek protection:

# Rugby: The Sharks will be without their captain, Lukhanyo Am, for Friday’s final of the Challenge Cup against Gloucester in London. The Springbok centre may be out for an extended time after he suffered serious shoulder and rib injuries during this month’s United Rugby Championship defeat to Benetton in Durban. His participation in the Boks’ mid-year Tests is therefore in doubt. Two other World Cup winners, Eben Etzebeth and Vincent Koch, have recovered from injuries and will be able to play on Friday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-3-cents and the euro at 19-rand-59-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-275-dollars-91-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-425-dollars-97-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-34-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….