News 08:00

BULLETIN 13 August 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Saftu says the US tariffs will make the unemployment crisis worse
# Nersa sets a new price cap for Egoli Gas to protect consumers
# And Zelensky says he will not give up more of Ukraine’s territory in exchange for a ceasefire

# The South African Federation of Trade Unions is warning that the unemployment crisis in the country will spiral into an even deeper disaster due to the 30-percent US reciprocal tariffs on South African goods. The country’s official unemployment rate rose 0.3 of a percentage point in the second quarter of this year to 33.2-percent. Saftu’s spokesperson, Asive Dyani, says US president Donald Trump’s trade war is not about fair competition, it is about punishing South Africa for pursuing an independent foreign policy:

# Energy regulator, Nersa, has approved a maximum gas price for Egoli Gas for the period from March this year to February next year. The price is set at 151-rand-14-cents per gigajoule for end-user customers and 143-rand-58-cents for resellers. Quarterly price adjustments will be allowed based on supplier contracts. Nersa’s Charles Hlebela says this decision aims to protect consumers and promote fair competition in the piped-gas market.

# The Freedom Front Plus has strongly condemned the violent protest action that led to a fire at the Department of Home Affairs offices in Germiston, Ekurhuleni, on Tuesday. During the protest, two suspects allegedly threw a petrol bomb into the building, which exploded and set it alight. The FF Plus’ Monique Kriek says it is suspected that the residents of the Pharoe Park apartment complex, owned by the Ekurhuleni Metro’s housing company, are responsible for the protest action and the subsequent fire:

# Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says he will not agree to any Russian proposal to give up more of his country’s territory in exchange for a ceasefire. Last week, Russia indicated it was prepared to consider a ceasefire, in exchange for Ukraine withdrawing from the parts of Donbas it still controlled. The Donbas, comprising the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, has been partially occupied by Moscow since 2014. Zelensky warns that Russia wants to use Donbas as a springboard for future attacks.

# Golf: The top two players in the world, American Scottie Scheffler and Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, have been paired together for the first two rounds of the BMW Championship, which tees off in Baltimore, Maryland, tomorrow. The championship is the PGA Tour’s second of three legs in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Fresh from winning the FedEx St Jude Championship, Englishman Justin Rose will play with American JJ Spaun. American Xander Schauffele has been paired with compatriot Michael Kim, while Norwegian Viktor Hovland is with American Akshay Bhatia.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-57-cents and the euro at 20-rand-53-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-73-cents and Bitcoin trades at 119-thousand-339-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-351-dollars-39-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-77-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….