News 12:00

BULLETIN 21 July 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Solidarity accuses FlySafair of refusing mediation from the CCMA to avert the pilots’ strike
# 104-million-rand is allocated to Gauteng Veterinary Services to combat foot-and-mouth disease
# And rugby: Owen Farrell will captain the British and Irish Lions against a First Nations and Pasifika 15-side tomorrow

# Solidarity has accused FlySafair of refusing intervention from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration in the pilots’ strike, which started this morning. The airline has already cancelled over 20 flights due to the labour action. The union is demanding a 10.5-percent salary increase for its members while the low-cost airline is offering 5.7-percent. Solidarity’s Helgard Cronjé says the pilots are simply asking for their salaries to be rectified after the salary cuts during the Covid-19 pandemic:

# The Gauteng Agriculture Department has allocated its Veterinary Services 104-million-rand to bolster support for animal health and biosecurity in the wake of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the country. At least 32 active cases have been reported in the province. Agriculture MEC Vuyiswa Ramogopa says Gauteng’s foot-and-mouth disease vaccination programme has been quite comprehensive:

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse has urged Transport minister, Barbara Creecy, to consider extending the validity of all licence cards to 10 years. The department currently has a backlog of 690-thousand driving licence cards, arising from the breakdown of the sole card-printing machine earlier this year. OUTA also wants minister Creecy to waive fines and temporary licences for those whose new licence cards are stuck in the backlog.

# Rugby: Owen Farrell will captain the British and Irish Lions against a First Nations and Pasifika 15-side in Melbourne tomorrow. This is the first start of the tour for the former England captain, who leads a side featuring Welsh powerhouse Jac Morgan, as well as current England captain Jamie George. Alex Mitchell is set to continue his remarkable run of having played in every match on tour, after being picked on the bench, where he is joined by Ben Earl and Marcus Smith.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 20-rand-61-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-80-cents and Bitcoin trades at 119-thousand-291-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-364-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-44-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Páros in the Greek islands was named as the best island in the world at the Travel and Leisure awards. The island rose to fame during the Cycladic civilisation for its Parian marble, which was used in masterpieces like Venus de Milo and Nike of Samothrace. Travel and Leisure readers ranked Páros’s historic architecture, nightlife, and optimal windsurfing conditions the best in the world. Palawan in the Philippines came in second, with Bali in Indonesia third.

Stay tuned for more news………….