News 16:00

BULLETIN 5 July 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Labour Court halts the NUMSA strike at Ford S-A’s headquarters
# OUTA criticises the Gauteng government’s composition
# And swimming: The World Aquatics executive director is to testify in a criminal probe into Chinese doping tests

# The Labour Court has granted Ford S-A an interdict against the NUMSA strike at its Pretoria headquarters. The court ordered striking workers must return to work today. The strike, which began yesterday, threatened production and supply chain processes. NUMSA initiated the strike over Ford’s refusal to share profits with workers. General secretary Irvin Jim stresses that Ford could afford bonuses, having made significant profits over the past four years.

# OUTA has raised concerns over Gauteng’s government composition following premier Panyaza Lesufi’s announcement, which excluded the DA from its executive. The DA accused the ANC of negotiating in bad faith and attempting to trick it into accepting fewer positions. Lesufi announced his cabinet on Wednesday following previous postponements. OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage says the provincial government lacks full representation:

# The City of Cape Town says it continues to leverage and improve its strategic assets portfolio under the Economic Growth Directorate. Mayoral committee member for Economic Growth, James Vos, says the portfolio manages immovable property assets of high economic, heritage, tourist, and environmental value. He says these include the Athlone Stadium, the Good Hope Centre, City Hall, the Grand Parade, and the Desmond and Leah Tutu House:

# Indian prime minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on Monday and Tuesday, in his first trip to the country since Moscow launched its military offensive in Ukraine. That campaign has tested relations between Moscow and New Delhi, even though India has ramped up its purchases of Russian oil and didn’t join Western sanctions. Modi and Russian president Vladimir Putin will discuss prospects for further development of traditionally friendly Russian-Indian relations, as well as relevant issues on the international and regional agenda.

# Swimming: World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki has been served with a subpoena to testify as a witness in a US government criminal investigation into the case of 23 Chinese swimmers. They tested positive for trimetazidine, which can enhance performance, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but were still allowed to compete. Chinese officials blamed food contamination for the positive tests. Eleven of the 23 swimmers are set to compete in the this year’s Paris Olympics.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-22-cents and the euro at 19-rand-73-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-31-cents and Bitcoin trades at 55-thousand-356-dollars-44-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-368-dollars-21-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-26-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….