News 07:00

BULLETIN 30 April 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Paul Mashatile says Africa can fast-track its development
# NUM is ready for wage negotiations with Sibanye Stillwater
# And the White House criticises Amazon’s plan to list the tariff costs on products

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile says South Africa is committed to placing employment generation, advancing gender-responsive policies, and equitable access to opportunity at the centre of the G20 dialogue. He delivered a keynote address at the T20 Africa High-Level Policy Dialogue in Pretoria on Tuesday. Mashatile says there is a need for Africa to address the persistent challenges of economic development, political instability, and governance weaknesses. He says Africa can accelerate development through digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies:

# The Citrus Growers’ Association says the Southern African citrus industry expects to export 171-million cartons this season, up 3.6-percent from last year. The association’s CEO Boitshoko Ntshabele says lemon and grapefruit exports are off to a strong start. Ntshabele warns that US tariff uncertainty remains a major threat to the sector as well as port inefficiencies and trade barriers. The industry anticipates to add 100-thousand jobs by 2032 if market access improves.

# The National Union of Mineworkers says preparations are already underway to begin national wage negotiations with Sibanye Stillwater in May. In November last year, the company reached a one-year wage agreement with unions at its gold operations, which comprised increases of 5.5-percent. This agreement ends on June 30th this year. NUM says the fact that the mining sector, particularly the gold sector, is experiencing an upward surge in terms of gold price, will give it a competitive advantage in the negotiations.

# State prosecutor Zelda Swanepoel has called the Joslin Smith trial the first of its kind in South Africa. In closing arguments, she told the Western Cape High Court that Joslin’s continued disappearance complicates the case. Joslin’s mother and two others face trafficking charges. Swanepoel alleges the child was sold for muthi, with no effort made by the accused to find her, knowing she’d never return:

# The White House has criticised Amazon’s reported plan to display the cost of president Donald Trump’s tariffs on products the e-commerce giant sells. Trump has imposed a 145-percent tariff on imports from China, where many products listed on Amazon.com ship from. Amazon has moved to distance itself from the report, saying the idea had been considered but was rejected. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says this is a hostile and political act by Amazon:

# Rugby: An independent appeal panel has upheld a disciplinary sanction of misconduct against former Western Province Rugby Football Union president, Zelt Marais. The SA Rugby Union suspended Marais for ten years in 2024 after he was found guilty on eight charges of misconduct for breaching the SARU Code of Conduct. The panel found that the sanction imposed by the Judicial Officer was well-motivated and took into account the total lack of remorse on Marais’s part. Marais is ineligible to hold any position in rugby until October 2034.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-57-cents and the euro at 21-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-89-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-425-dollar-41-cents. Gold sells at three-thousand-311-dollars-28-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-19-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….