NEWSFLASH NEWS AGENCY 9 February 9 am

Good morning,

In this bulletin:

# The Black Business Council expects president Cyril Ramaphosa to announce quotas on jobs for foreign nationals
# Labour unions want the attackers of three striking Clover workers to be held accountable
# And tennis: Juan Martín Del Potro has played the final match of his career

# President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce quotas on jobs for foreign nationals in the upcoming State of the Nation Address. The Black Business Council says this would be a welcome move to make it law. According to CEO Kganki Matabane some low-skill entry-level jobs should be allocated to South Africans. He adds, however, that widespread consultation would be necessary.

Play sound: ENG-Kganki

# The Land Bank says it is in advanced talks with lenders as it seeks to exit default on its debt by the end of next month. The bank is the biggest lender to the farming sector in South Africa. Chairperson Thabi Nkosi says the bank missed a loan repayment in April 2020 that triggered a cross-default in notes issued under a 50-billion-rand bond programme. The government has committed seven-billion-rand in support of the Land Bank. Nkosi says 28-percent of liabilities have already been settled.

# The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa and the Food and Allied Workers Union want the taxi drivers who attacked Clover striking workers to be held accountable. The workers who were picketing at Clover’s Clayville factory in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, were attacked by the drivers on Monday. Giwusa president Mametlwe Sebei says workers in this country should be able to strike without being intimated or attacked:

Play sound: ENGMametlweSebei

# Tennis: 2009 US Open champion, Juan Martín Del Potro, has confirmed he has played the last match of his career. The 33-year-old made an emotional return to the ATP Tour on home soil at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires. He suffered a 6-1, 6-3 defeat to his good friend and countryman Federico Delbonis. This defeat was Del Potro’s first event since fracturing his kneecap in June 2019 at Queen’s in London. He says he now just wants to live in peace and be able to sleep without feeling pain in his leg.

# Financial indicators: The dollar is trading at 15-rand-32-cents and the euro at 17-rand-52-cents. One British pound costs 20-rand-78-cents and Bitcoin trades at 43-thousand-372-dollar-1-cents. Gold is selling at one thousand-827-dollars-90-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 91-dollars-14-cents a barrel.

# And finally, Adele took home three Brit Awards at the prestigious ceremony at London’s O2 Arena yesterday evening. She won album of the year for her fourth studio album, 30; British song of the year for its lead single, Easy on Me; and artist of the year. This brings Adele’s total Brit Award trophies to 12. Dua Lipa won best pop/R&B act, while Ed Sheeran walked away with the songwriter of the year award. Billie Eilish picked up international artist of the year and Olivia Rodrigo won international song of the year for Good 4 U.

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