News 16:00

BULLETIN 24 June 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa sheds 74-thousand jobs in just three months
# City Power and Eskom settle a 3.2-billion-rand debt dispute
# And rugby: The Bok’s assistant coach says the Barbarians clash will be an ideal test

# Statistics South Africa has reported a drop of 74-thousand jobs in the formal sector between January and March this year, bringing total employment down to just over ten-million. The biggest losses were in trade and community services, while manufacturing and construction saw small gains. Stats SA’s Matlapane Masupye says full-time jobs fell by 55-thousand and part-time jobs by 19-thousand, while total earnings dropped by more than 47-billion-rand:

# City Power in Johannesburg and Eskom have settled their debt dispute after mediation by the South African National Energy Development Institute. Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero confirmed Eskom will receive 3.2-billion-rand over four-years, with 830-million-rand written off. A court had ordered the city to pay over one-billion-rand with interest, but City Power claimed overbilling. The minister stressed the urgency of resolving metering issues:

# Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has rejected the City of Cape Town’s proposal for a mixed-use development next to Athlone Stadium. The metro recently opened a formal public participation process, running until July 7, to gather comments on the proposal to dispose of a portion of the stadium’s parking area along Klipfontein Road for a phased mixed-use development. McKenzie has called this idea nonsense, saying the metro must redirect housing plans to affluent suburbs like Constantia.

# Rugby: Springbok assistant coach Tony Brown says Saturday’s match against the Barbarians will be an ideal test for the team, setting the tone for the season ahead. The match, which will be played in Cape Town, marks the first encounter between the Springboks and Barbarians since 2016. Brown says aspects of the Boks’ playing style will evolve this season as they look to improve:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-73-cents and the euro at 20-rand-57-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-11-cents and Bitcoin trades at 105-thousand-252-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-317-dollars-34-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-57-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The British-flagged luxury superyacht that sank off Sicily in August last year, completed its final trip to the Sicilian port of Termini Imerese after recovery crews lifted the Bayesian out of the water. Investigators will now examine the wreckage to determine the cause of the sinking, which killed UK tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others. British investigators found the crew chose the site where it sank as shelter from forecast thunderstorms. Wind speeds of more than 70 knots knocked the vessel over to a 90-degree angle in under 15 seconds.

Stay tuned for more news………….