News 08:00

BULLETIN 13 May 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# EFF says South Africa is descending deeper into economic collapse
# Cape Town storm has affected over 84,000 people living in informal settlements
# And tennis, Jannik Sinner equals Novak Djokovic’s record of 31 consecutive Masters victories

# The EFF says the latest unemployment statistics confirm that South Africa is descending deeper into poverty, hunger, hopelessness, and economic collapse. The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows that the country lost 345-thousand jobs in the first quarter of 2026, pushing the official unemployment rate up to 32.7-percent. The EFF says the only sustainable solution to the unemployment crisis is the radical restructuring of the economy through land expropriation without compensation, mass job creation, state-led industrialisation and nationalisation of strategic sectors.

# Rise Mzansi calls for all parliamentary processes to be handled in a legally and procedurally sound manner. The party’s comments follow National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza’s statement that Parliament will implement the Constitutional Court ruling on the Phala Phala matter involving president Cyril Ramaphosa. Rise Mzansi’s Makashule Gana says Parliament must ensure every step is beyond reproach and fully aligned with the Constitution and the rule of law:

# Disaster Risk Management in the City of Cape Town says assessments indicate that the adverse weather conditions have impacted 83-thousand-184 people living in 21-thousand-546 dwellings in recent days. Since last Monday, a combination of heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, damaging winds and snowfall has affected six provinces, resulting in the deaths of at least ten people. Disaster Risk Management spokesperson, Charlotte Powell, says humanitarian relief has been rendered in areas including Vygieskraal, Overcome Heights, Khayelitsha and Philippi East:

# The World Health Organisation says at the moment there is no sign of the start of a larger hantavirus outbreak, but the situation could change given the long incubation period of the virus. So far WHO has confirmed nine cases of the virus following evacuation from the MV Hondius cruise ship. Three people have died after travelling on the ship. WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says they might see more cases in the coming weeks:

# Tennis: World number one Jannik Sinner earned his 31st consecutive victory to reach the Italian Open quarterfinals, equalling Novak Djokovic’s record of consecutive wins at the Masters one-thousand level. The Italian defeated compatriot Andrea Pellegrino, 6-2, 6-3. German Alexander Zverev suffered a shock exit at the hands of Italian Luciano Darderi, 1-6, 7-6, 6-0. In the women’s draw, American Coco Gauff defeated Russia’s Mirra Andreeva, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, to make the semifinals. She will face Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, who beat Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, 6-1, 7-6.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-51-cents and the euro at 19-rand-37-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-34-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 81-thousand-37-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-690-dollars-8-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 104-dollars-8-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….