News 09:00

BULLETIN 8 April 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Afrikanerbond is concerned by SABC2 removing the Afrikaans news
# The CEO of Prasa is meeting Satawu and Untu over wage demands
# And China says it will not bow to Trump’s latest tariff increases

# Afrikanerbond says it is concerned by the disappearance of the Afrikaans news bulletin this past weekend, without any communication from the SABC on the reasons behind this decision. The SABC Nuus on SABC2 has a devoted audience of over 300-thousand. Afrikanerbond’s general secretary, Jan Bosman, says in July 2014, the public broadcaster took similar steps but had to revoke the decisions after pressure from civil society:

# The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa CEO, Hishaam Emeran, is expected to meet with the two largest unions at the rail operator today. This is after the United National Transport Union and the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union lodged a dispute at the CCMA over their demands for wage increases of 15-percent. The union’s demands also include a medical aid subsidy where Prasa contributes 70-percent of the premiums and a non-negotiable no-retrenchment clause for the duration of the agreement. Prasa says it cannot afford double-digit wage increases.

# ActionSA in Limpopo has condemned the rape of a four-year-old girl in Malepetleke Village, Mokopane, saying government needs to do more to protect children. A 36-year-old man allegedly raped his niece when the child’s mother left her in his care at their home last Friday. He appeared in court on Monday where he abandoned his bail application. ActionSA’s, Tshepo Magoma, says this is one of the most monstrous violations of humanity and innocence:

# China says it will further retaliate if US president Donald Trump makes good on his threat to levy an additional 50-percent tariff on Chinese goods. The new tariffs could leave some American companies bringing in certain goods from China facing a 104-percent tax. China’s Commerce Ministry says Trump’s threat once again exposes the US’s blackmailing nature. It adds that if America escalates its tariff measures, China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests.

# Tennis: Ninth seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia is through to the second round of the Monte-Carlo Masters, after battling past compatriot Karen Khachanov, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.  Medvedev has not won a title since the Rome Masters in 2023. Italian Matteo Berrettini beat Argentine’s Mariano Navone 6-4, 6-4 to set up a second-round blockbuster clash with Germany’s Alexander Zverev. France’s Gael Monfils continued his impressive season with a, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 comeback win against Hungarian Fabian Marozsan.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-47-cents and the euro at 21-rand-37-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-89-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-33-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-998-dollars-53-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-89-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….