News 09:00

BULLETIN 19 May 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Post Office receives a much-needed cash injection
# The National Christian Forum calls on Ramaphosa to fire Shamila Batohi
# And golf: Scottie Scheffler is the US PGA champion

# Employment and Labour minister, Nomakhosazana Meth, has announced the implementation of a signed agreement between the South African Post Office and the Unemployment Insurance Fund. The agreement is aimed at preserving nearly six-thousand jobs and supporting the revitalisation of the state-owned entity. The ministry’s spokesperson, Thobeka Magcai, says through the Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme, the UIF will inject over 381-million-rand into the Post Office over six months:

# The South African National Christian Forum is calling for president Cyril Ramaphosa to fire National Director of Public Prosecutions, Shamila Batohi. This as the National Prosecuting Authority decided not to proceed with prosecution in an alleged rape case involving a seven-year-old girl in Matatiele, Eastern Cape, due to insufficient evidence to conduct a successful prosecution. The forum’s leader, Marothi Mashashane, says the NPA head can be removed from office for poor performance of prosecutors under their jurisdiction:

# Three more suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of a Johannesburg Metro Police Department officer in Vlakfontein last week. In total, five suspects have now been arrested for the murder. Gauteng Hawks spokesperson, Katlego Mogale, says information led the team to two residences in Dobsonville, Soweto, where the vehicle allegedly used by the suspects on the day of the murder and two firearms, including one belonging to the slain officer, were found. All five suspects will appear in the Lenasia Magistrate’s Court today.

# Golf: World number one Scottie Scheffler secured his third major title by winning the US PGA Championship for the first time at Quail Hollow. The American won by five strokes, the biggest championship win since Rory McIlroy’s eight-shot win in 2012. American Bryson DeChambeau shared second place on six under with compatriots Davis Riley and Harris English. McIlroy’s bid for back-to-back major titles ended in a tied-47th finish. Scheffler says this was a hard-fought win:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-4-cents and the euro at 20-rand-18-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 103-thousand-268-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-215-dollars-39-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-69-cents a barrel.

# And finally, 702 and Primedia founder, Issie Kirsh, passed away at the age of 90 over the weekend. He and his son William founded Primedia, one of South Africa’s largest media companies. Primedia CEO Jonathan Procter says the country owes Kirsh and his family a huge debt of gratitude for supporting independent news media. He adds that independent news media is more important today with the endless onslaught of vested interests and unverified news on independent journalism, which is a cornerstone of any successful democracy.

Stay tuned for more news………….