News 06:00

BULLETIN 18 June 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says an entrepreneurial culture needs to be fostered to tackle youth unemployment
# The Christian Forum rejects the national dialogue as a wasteful exercise
# And Donald Trump says he is seeking a real end to the conflict between Israel and Iran

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says the extent and scale of the youth unemployment crisis means that the government must bolster skills development and foster an entrepreneurial culture. The latest employment figures show a 46.1-percent unemployment rate among youths aged 15 to 34. In his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa says the government has rolled out several youth-focused programmes since 2020 to combat unemployment, chief among these being the Presidential Employment Stimulus. He adds that it is critical to overcome the mismatch between the skills available in the workforce and market needs.

Meanwhile, ActionSA says nearly 12-million unemployed South Africans are being psychologically crushed by the worsening job crisis. Releasing a report grading the GNU’s performance over its first year in office, the party’s Alan Beesley slammed the government of national unity for failing to grow the economy, warning that 300-thousand jobs were lost in the last quarter alone. Beesley says economic stagnation, poor policy, and weak governance have deepened poverty and inequality:

# The South African National Christian Forum says the national dialogue is a wasteful exercise and should be cancelled. They argue the 700-million-rand allocated for the event would be better spent on job creation, assisting flood victims, and strengthening the National Prosecuting Authority. The forum’s president, Marothi Mashashane, urged president Cyril Ramaphosa to withdraw the dialogue and to focus on implementing existing policies to create jobs and combat gender-based violence:

# The Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Scrutiny Committee, chaired by Matshidiso Mfikoe, will visit the Midrand Emergency Medical Services base today to assess the implementation of revised ambulance service fees under the Uniform Patient Fee Schedule. This follows a 4.3-percent annual increase approved in May. The visit aims to ensure alignment with public service mandates and constitutional principles. It’s also part of ongoing post-legislative oversight engagements.

# US president Donald Trump says he is looking for a real end to the Israel-Iran conflict, not just a ceasefire. Over 200 people have been killed in Iran since hostilities began last Friday, and over 20 in Israel. Israel has been pressing Trump to become more involved in its campaign to dismantle Iran’s nuclear facilities. Trump, who left the G7 summit in Canada early, says he has not reached out about a potential ceasefire, adding that his patience is wearing thin with Iran.

# Rugby: The British and Irish Lions have called up Leicester scrumhalf Jack van Poortfliet as cover for injured Irish player Jamison Gibson-Park, who suffered a minor injury. Head coach Andy Farrell has asked several players to help the Lions prepare for their warm-up match against the Pumas before they toured Australia as team members were involved in the finals of the Premiership and the United Rugby Championship. The Lions play Argentina in Dublin on Friday, and the tour starts against Western Force in Perth next Saturday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-1-cents and the euro at 20-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-685-dollar-10-cents. Gold sells at three-thousand-388-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-91-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….