News 08:00

BULLETIN 28 June 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Saftu says the lack of accountability for corruption has precipitated the crisis at State Owned Enterprises
# Cosatu welcomes Eskom’s commitment to invest in transformers
# And motorsport: Verstappen confirms he will be racing for Red Bull next year

# Saftu says the lack of accountability for corrupt activities has precipitated the crisis at state-owned enterprises such as Eskom, which, in the long run, has affected the lives of the citizens. Saftu’s spokesperson, Trevor Shaku says the Global Corruption Perception Index in 2023 has listed South Africa at number 41, on a global scale out of 195 countries with corrupt activities in the public sector:

# Cosatu has welcomed Eskom’s progressive commitments to invest in transformers and add 28-Gigawatts  to the electricity grid over the next four years. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says if completed successfully this would consign load-shedding to a painful memory of the past. Parks says the plans to add 101 transformers over the next four years and 170 in total by 2032, with a combined additional generation capacity of 53-gigawatts will basically double generation capacity:

# South African youth have been urged to stay diligent in their entrepreneurship journey. Green Youth Indaba chairperson, Sanele Zulu, emphasised the need to provide opportunities to tackle high unemployment. Speaking to the SABC, Zulu highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship education and understanding legislative provisions for youth-led businesses. He called on young entrepreneurs to proactively seek opportunities to enhance the economy and address unemployment:

# At least one person has been killed and 20 others injured after a cable car crashed in Colombia. The cable car in Medellin failed and plunged into a pavement next to a station platform. There were 10 people in the car when it fell, but it is not yet known if the 55-year-old man who died of multiple injuries was in the car or on the ground. The injured received medical attention as well as psychological support. The Metrocable is a gondola lift system, aimed at serving some of Medellin’s neighbourhoods located on steep hills.

# Motorsport: Triple world champion Max Verstappen finally confirmed he would be racing for Red Bull next season after previous answers in this regard fell short of absolute commitment. Mercedes have been making overtures to the 26-year-old Dutchman despite the fact he has a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028 and his current car has won seven of ten races this season. At a pre-Austrian Grand Prix news conference Verstappen said he is working with the Red Bull team and focusing on next year to try and be competitive again.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-49-cents and the euro at 19-rand-78-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-37-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-709-dollars-79-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-323-dollars-19-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-67-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….