News 08:00

BULLETIN 5 June 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Treasury says a fiscal strategy is achievable, even in a coalition environment
# More Public Order Policing officers are deployed to KZN amid concerns about civil unrest
# And tennis: Sinner will face Alcaraz in the semis, as he is set to become world number one

# National Treasury says it intends to stick to a balanced fiscal stance under a coalition government. The ANC has lost its outright majority for the first time since 1994 and will need to form a coalition government. The business community has voiced concern over the prospect of the ANC entering a coalition with the EFF of Jacob Zuma’s MK Party. Treasury’s director-general Duncan Pieterse says a balanced macro-fiscal stance becomes more defensible in an uncertain political environment.

# National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola has deployed more than 300 additional Public Order Policing officers to KwaZulu-Natal. This is to bolster policing operations in the post-election phase. There are fears of possible unrest in the province similar to those that occurred in July 2021, following the announcement of the election results on Sunday. Police spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe, says law enforcement agencies are ready for any emerging incidents:

# The pre-trial conference against convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester and his eight co-accused, including his girlfriend doctor Nandipha Maguduma, is expected to resume in the Bloemfontein High Court today. They are all accused of aiding Bester to escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre where he was serving a life sentence in May 2022. Bester, on the other hand, faces a charge of escaping from prison. Bester, Magudumana and Zanda Moyo remain in custody while the rest of the accused are out on bail of ten-thousand-rand each.

# Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has won a third consecutive term, but his Bharatiya Janata Party has failed to secure an outright majority in Parliament. This means the party will be reliant on coalition partners to form a government. The party lost 62 seats, bringing its total down to 240, below the 272 required for a parliamentary majority. Modi is set to form a government with his National Democratic Alliance. The opposition coalition, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, far outperformed expectations, collectively winning more than 230 seats.

# Tennis: Second seed Jannik Sinner will face Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals of the French Open. Sinner continued his pursuit of a second straight Grand Slam title by beating Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6. The Italian is guaranteed to rise to world number one in the rankings on Monday after Novak Djokovic withdrew due to injury ahead of his quarterfinal clash. Alcaraz defeated Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 7-6, 6-4. Sinner says becoming world number one is special:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-68-cents and the euro at 20-rand-33-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-87-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-901-dollars-44-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-335-dollars-41-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-48-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….