News 08:00

BULLETIN 5 July 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The African Transformation Movement is concerned about the extension of the temporary visa concession
# A poll predicts a landslide win for Britain’s Labour Party
# And rugby: The Junior Boks’ semifinal chances are in the balance

# The African Transformation Movement has expressed concern about the extension of the temporary concession for foreign nationals, who are currently awaiting the outcome of visa, waiver, and appeal applications. Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber says this extension safeguards applicants from suffering adverse consequences or being erroneously declared undesirable. ATM’s national spokesperson, Zama Ntshona, says this decision demonstrates a blatant disregard for the well-being and economic prospects of South Africans:

# Union federation Saftu is urging workers to demand annual bonuses from Ford Motor Company. They support the Metalworkers union Numsa in their strike, following a two-year negotiation deadlock. The federation argues that given Ford’s profit growth, the company can afford to pay these bonuses. Saftu’s Trevor Shaku asserts that bonuses should benefit workers who create surplus value, rather than just company executives and shareholders:

# The South African Human Rights Commission has launched an investigation into allegations of abuse against deaf electrical learnership students at the PCD College in Montana, Pretoria. In complaints sent to the Neema Foundation for the Deaf, students have alleged discrimination, racism, and unfair treatment compared to their hearing peers. PCD College director Christo Buchling has denied the allegations, saying the institution has never been subject to any allegations of abuse, racism, unfair labour practices, or discrimination during the 21 years of its existence.

# Exit poll projection shows a landslide victory for Keir Starmer’s Labour Party in the UK election, ending the 14 years of Conservative rule. Labour is expected to win 410 seats, with the Conservatives on 131. At the last general election, in 2019, the Conservatives had a majority, with 365 seats to Labour’s 203. Starmer, who is set to be the fourth Labour leader to oust the Conservatives since the Second World War, has promised to be the agent of change that Britain needs.

# Rugby: The Junior Springboks suffered a 31-12 defeat to Argentina in their World Rugby Under20 Championship pool clash in Stellenbosch. The hosts were outscored five tries to two by rivals Los Pumitas. This loss means South Africa must beat England in their final pool match on Tuesday to stand a chance of making the semifinals. Junior Boks coach, Bafana Nhleko, says ill-discipline cost them:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-24-cents and the euro at 19-rand-74-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-29-cents and Bitcoin trades at 55-thousand-420-dollars-1-cent. Gold sells at two-thousand-360-dollars-98-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-9-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….