News 09:00

BULLETIN 12 August 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Former minister Pandor is concerned about the private Afrikaans university being built
# Tshwane adds 22-thousand jobs as unemployment declines
# And, Thailand suspends the issuing of new gun permits in response to last week’s mass shooting

# ANC stalwart and former minister Naledi Pandor has expressed concern about the new private Afrikaans-only Akademia university campus being built in Pretoria. The new campus is being developed through a partnership between Solidarity and Kanton, with the total development cost expected to exceed three-billion-rand. It will cater for five-thousand full-time undergraduate students and one-thousand-500 postgraduate students. In an interview on the African Renaissance Podcast, Pandor suggested that the establishment of an Afrikaans university forms part of a broader political and social challenge:

# Union federation Cosatu says bold and decisive action is needed to tackle the country’s unemployment crisis. South Africa’s official unemployment rate has increased by 0.9 percentage point from 32.7-percent in the first quarter of this year to 33.6-percent in the second quarter. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says the extent of this crisis requires a bold and aggressive stimulus package to kickstart the economy, rebuild public and municipal services, and extend relief for the unemployed by expanding public employment programmes:

# The City of Tshwane added 22-thousand jobs in the second quarter of this year. According to Statistics South Africa, the metro’s official unemployment rate declined by 2.6-percent, from 36.8-percent to 34.2-percent. Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya’s spokesperson, Zintle Mahlati, says while Tshwane added jobs, Johannesburg lost approximately 28-thousand jobs, and Ekurhuleni lost approximately three-thousand jobs during the quarter. She says these latest figures demonstrate that progress is possible in the metro:

# Thailand’s government has stopped the issuing of new licenses to possess, purchase and carry firearms following last week’s deadly school shooting. A 14-year-old shot his grandparents using a handgun owned by his grandfather, before opening fire at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School outside Bangkok, killing five staff members and one 12-year-old girl. He then turned the gun on himself. Prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul says government will work to pass new gun control laws, with stronger controls and significantly harsher penalties. Thailand has around 10.3 million firearms in civilian possession.

# Tennis: World number two Elena Rybakina defeated Japan’s Naomi Osaka, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, to make the Canadian Open semifinals in Toronto. The Kazakhstani will face Coco Gauff after the American received a walkover, following Belinda Bencic of Switzerland’s withdrawal from their quarterfinal match due to a hip injury. The other semifinal will see Poland’s Iga Swiatek take on Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina. In Montreal, defending champion Ben Shelton defeated Czech’s Jakub Mensik, 6-3, 6-1, while his American compatriot Learner Tien defeated Spaniard Daniel Merida, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the semifinals.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-19-cents and the euro at 18-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-86-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-754-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-398-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-38-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….