News 07:00

BULLETIN 14 May 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says the departure of the Afrikaners to the US is a cowardly act
# The MK Party says the rising unemployment proves the government of national unity has failed
# And the Transport Department confirms extended working hours to address the backlog in driver’s licences

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says the group of 49 white Afrikaners who left South Africa for the US were clearly unhappy with efforts to redress the inequities of the apartheid past. President Donald Trump granted them refugee status as victims of what he called a genocide. The president made a surprise visit to the annual Nampo Harvest Day near the Free State town of Bothaville on Tuesday. Ramaphosa says South Africans are resilient and they don’t run away from their problems:

# The MK Party says the rise in unemployment is a clear sign of a national crisis caused by a failed government of national unity. Reacting to the latest quarterly labour force survey, the party argues black youth, women, and people with disabilities are being sidelined by an economy still shaped by apartheid-era privilege. MK Party’s Nhlamulo Ndhlela accuses president Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration of serving elite interests, calling his investment summits empty promises:

Meanwhile, Build One South Africa says the government cannot tackle the country’s stagnant, unequal economy and stubbornly high unemployment rate. The Quarterly Labour Force survey for the first quarter shows the number of people employed in the formal sector decreased by 245-thousand while informal sector employment increased by 17-thousand. BOSA says that for far too long, government departments and ministers have promised job creation while presiding over an economy that simply does not grow and a labour market that fails to absorb new entrants.

# The National Transport Department has confirmed extended working hours at the Driving License Card Agency to address a backlog of over 740-thousand unprinted driving license cards. This follows the repair of the agency’s printing machine, which had been out of service since February. Department spokesperson Collen Msibi says that efforts to procure new machines have been delayed due to irregularities identified by the Auditor-General. He says that the department is seeking a court’s guidance on whether to proceed with the current service provider.

# President Donald Trump says the US-Saudi Arabia relationship has been a bedrock of security and prosperity. On Tuesday, he began the first leg of a major diplomatic four-day tour to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Trump signed several new agreements with Saudi Arabia’s government, including on military cooperation. Speaking at a Saudi-US investment forum in Riyadh, Trump accused Iran of trying to tear down the region and funding bloodshed abroad:

# Rugby: The International Rugby Players’ Association says they weren’t consulted before World Rugby revamped the World Sevens Series. The governing body announced the news just before the season-ending tournament in Los Angeles in the US, which South Africa won. It entails the series only consisting of eight elite teams playing in six tournaments before four teams from a newly-formed Division Two can join them in three World Championship Series events. Players feel this will only benefit the richer nations and fail to grow developing nations.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-31-cents and the euro at 20-rand-47-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-37-cents and Bitcoin trades at 103-thousand-893-dollar-89-cents. Gold sells at three-thousand-245-dollars-53-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-33-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….