News 08:00

BULLETIN 2 May 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Nearly five-thousand Post Office workers will be retrenched after a bid to secure funding failed
# The FF Plus says job creation is the key to economic growth
# And about 300 pro-Palestinian protesting students were arrested in the USA

# The retrenchment of four-thousand-889 South African Post Office employees will go ahead. This is due to the business rescue practitioners’ application for funding from the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s Temporary Employment Relief Scheme has been rejected. The funding would have delayed the retrenchments by 12 months, effectively upskilling and retraining staff for possible job placements whilst still earning a salary. Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration commissioner, Willie Hlophe, says the financial challenges occasioned by the high wage bill are inevitable and cannot be remedied by TERS funding.

# The Freedom Front Plus says the ANC does not realise that jobs can only be created if government policies are amended, to create a favourable environment for investors to grow the economy. Leader Pieter Groenewald says rigid labour legislation is one of the biggest obstacles to economic growth and job creation in the country. He says not only is it difficult to dismiss incompetent individuals, but it is also a continual struggle to meet transformation targets. Groenewald says the country can only be rebuilt through job creation.

# Gauteng MEC of Community Safety, Faith Mazibuko, says police will continue to hunt down criminals targeting motorists on the N4 from Pretoria to Rustenburg. There has been a notable increase in the number of reported cases of criminals placing spikes, or objects on public roads, intending to rob them on the highway. Mazibuko says motorists must be vigilant of their surroundings at all times:

# About 300 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at Columbia University and City College of New York yesterday. Protests over the war in Gaza have gripped universities across America, as students demand a boycott of companies and individuals with ties to Israel. More than 34-thousand Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s attacks in Gaza. Hamas has killed over one-thousand-200 people in Israel and taken over 200 people hostage. New York mayor, Eric Adams, says the protests are part of a movement to radicalise young people:

# Tennis: Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz has been knocked out of the Madrid Open by Andrey Rublev. The Russian rallied from a set down to win, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. He will face American 12th seed Taylor Fritz, who beat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Italian Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the tournament with a hip injury, handing his quarterfinal opponent Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime a walk-over into the semifinals. Rublev says winning against Alcaraz is special:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-56-cents and the euro at 19-rand-90-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-27-cents and Bitcoin trades at 57-thousand-470-dollars-68-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-317-dollars-90-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-84-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….