News 08:00

BULLETIN 16 April 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The government meets with universities over the impact of the US tariffs
# Walter Sisulu says the person killed during demonstrations was not a student or a staff member
# And Joe Biden criticises Donald Trump’s efforts to cut Social Security

# Government met with vice-chancellors of public universities on Tuesday, to discuss the impact of the US executive orders and tariffs on universities, particularly research funding. The meeting was led by the minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, and the Higher Education and Training minister, Nobuhle Nkabane. Government’s spokesperson, David Jacobs, says deputy minister of Finance, David Masondo, also briefed the meeting about key developments on the 2025 national budget, and proposed allocations to support the higher education sector:

# Transnet says it welcomes the decision by the United National Transport Union to ballot its members, as this will serve as a true reflection of employees’ wishes. The union is set to approach its members for a strike balloting process after wage talks with the state-owned entity deadlocked on Monday. Transnet says the final offer of a six-percent increase in the first and second years and 5.5-percent in the third year, is in recognition that job security is essential for employee well-being and its long-term sustainability.

# The Walter Sisulu University says the person who was shot and killed during demonstrations at the Mthatha campus, Eastern Cape, on Tuesday was not a registered student or a staff member at the institution. The person was allegedly shot by the university’s residence manager and two students were wounded. WSU’s, Ndiyakholwa Ngqulu, told Newzroom Afrika that authorities are working to determine the identity of the deceased and the reason for their involvement in the incident:

# Former US president Joe Biden says in fewer than 100 days, his successor Donald Trump’s administration has done so much damage. He addressed the national conference of Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled in Chicago on Tuesday, his first public speech since leaving office. Biden criticised the current administration’s efforts to cut Social Security, which more than 70-million Americans rely on each month, calling the amount of damage the White House has inflicted on the programme devastating:

# Tennis: Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz is through to the round of 16 of the Barcelona Open. The 21-year-old Spaniard defeated American qualifier Ethan Quinn, 6-2, 7-6, to extend his winning streak in the tournament to eleven. Defending champion Norwegian world number ten, Casper Ruud, saw off Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan, 6-4, 6-3, while last year’s runner-up Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas beat American Reilly Opelka, 6-2, 6-2. Britain’s Cameron Norrie was beaten 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 by Karen Khachanov of Russia.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-3-cents and the euro at 21-rand-57-cents. One British pound costs 25-rand-22-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-897-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-273-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-86-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….