News 13:00

BULLETIN 5 August 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Government says infrastructure investment is crucial to create more job opportunities
# Gauteng has a new revenue strategy to address e-toll debt
# And, Olympic Games: Paris witnessed a remarkable 100-metre final

# Public Works and Infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson says infrastructure investment is crucial to creating more job opportunities for South Africans. President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed last month that the government of national unity will prioritise economic growth by tackling structural reform, fixing badly-run municipalities, cutting red tape, and ramping up infrastructure investment. Macpherson says job creation is a major priority:

# The Gauteng government plans to tackle its 17-billion-rand debt to the South African National Roads Agency for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project by using a new revenue strategy. An agreement between National Treasury and the provincial government led to e-tolls being switched off and scrapped in April. Finance MEC, Lebogang Maile, says they are aiming to pay Gauteng’s 30-percent portion of Sanral’s debt and interest obligations by raising money to invest in infrastructure rather than finance debt repayment.

# Union Nehawu has reached an agreement with the South African Bureau of Standards after a two-week strike. Workers had downed tools after the organisation changed its terms and conditions of employment without consultation, including implementing a new payment structure. Nehawu says the parties have agreed on an annual salary increase on a sliding scale of 5.8- to four-percent and a housing allowance. Workers will also be eligible for a once-off gratuitous payment of 25-thousand-rand.

# A five-year-old boy has died at an American baseball stadium after a wind gust blew a bouncy castle into the air while children were inside it. Emergency services were called to the stadium in Waldorf, in the US state of Maryland, after the bounce house was lifted approximately four to six metres up in the air. Some children inside of the inflatable fell to the ground of the baseball field before it could land. Two children were airlifted to hospital. A five-year-old boy was pronounced dead later that evening. The second child was left with non-life-threatening injuries.

# Olympic Games: Paris witnessed one of the most remarkable Olympic 100-metre showdowns of all time. Noah Lyles won his first Olympic gold medal as he crossed the finish line just five-thousandths of a second ahead of Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson. The American won in 9.79 seconds, while all eight men finished within 0.12 seconds of the gold medal. It was also the first time that eight men had run under ten seconds, making it the fastest race of all time. Lyles says it was incredibly tight:

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-53-cents and the euro at 20-rand-30-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-66-cents and Bitcoin trades at 52-thousand-593-dollars-15-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-421-dollars-72-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-4-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….