News 06:00

BULLETIN 10 June 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Government welcomes the sixth consecutive economic growth period
# The Labour Department launches an investigation into the handling of recruitment documents
# And, fresh Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill eight people

# The government says the economy continues to show positive growth, but more still needs to be done to boost expansion, create jobs, and attract investment. The South African economy grew by 0.5-percent in the first three months of this year, marking six consecutive periods of growth. Deputy government spokesperson, William Baloyi, says the latest gross domestic product figures show expansion was driven by strong performance in finance, agriculture, trade, transport, and communications:

Meanwhile, the ANC says the economic growth provides encouraging evidence that the economic reforms and interventions implemented by the government are contributing to improved economic activity. According to Statistics South Africa, the finance industry was the largest contributor on the production side of the economy, contributing 0.2 percentage points to overall gross domestic product growth. Agriculture, trade, and transport also performed well. The ANC says it does recognise that much work remains to be done to address unemployment, poverty, and inequality.

# The Department of Employment and Labour is investigating concerns over the handling and disposal of job application documents, including possible breaches of personal information. An official has been suspended and an independent investigator appointed to ensure a thorough review. The department is also checking whether the matter must be reported to the Information Regulator under data protection laws. The department’s Teboho Thejane has apologised for any distress caused.

# The DA says Gauteng learners could face another school placement crisis as the provincial education department has not yet opened applications for next year’s grade one and grade eight admissions. The party’s Sergio Isa Dos Santos says the lack of clear timelines is leaving parents uncertain and could result in thousands of learners being placed late or missing school time, as seen in previous years:

# The Israeli Defence Force launched fresh strikes in Lebanon yesterday, killing at least eight people and wounding 32. This is despite the IDF issuing an evacuation warning to residents of Tyre in southern Lebanon. Israel and Iran paused hostilities on Monday, after an Israeli strike on Beirut targeting the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah triggered their first exchange of fire since a truce in April. The IDF says the latest attack was because Hezbollah violated a ceasefire agreement and the group’s attacks in northern Israel.

# Cricket: Proteas Women’s captain Laura Wolvaardt believes the participation of veterans Shabnim Ismael and Dané van Niekerk will strengthen the team in the T20 World Cup, starting in England and Wales on Friday. They reversed their earlier retirements, but Wolvaardt says they had been active all the time and will help South Africa go one step further after reaching the finals of the past three white-ball World Cups. The Proteas face Australia, Pakistan, India, and the Netherlands in their group matches.  

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-51-cents and the euro at 19-rand-5-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-8-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-718-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-233-dollars-56-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-78-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….