News 09:00

BULLETIN 2 September 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The FF Plus is calling for a probe at the Government Pensions Agency
# Cosatu is concerned about the potential job massacre as a result of the US tariffs
# And over a thousand people were killed in a landslide in Sudan

# The Freedom Front Plus has condemned the mismanagement of funds by the Government Pensions Administration Agency. The agency manages approximately three-trillion-rand in retirement assets for civil servants and employees of parastatals. Several procurement contracts entered into by the agency have been flagged for potential irregularities, with reported costs exceeding 1.2-billion-rand. FF Plus’ Anton Alberts says the agency’s suspected mismanagement of funds comes against the backdrop of losses amounting to billions suffered by the Government Employees Pension Fund:

# Cosatu says South Africa’s economic crisis is set to deepen following the imposition of the 30-percent trade tariffs by the US. The union federation says it is concerned by the potential jobs bloodbath that may result from these tariffs imposed on the country’s exports to the world’s largest economy. Cosatu’s spokesperson, Zanele Sabela, says the devastating impact of the tariffs is already evident following the closure of Good Year in Uitenhage, and the temporary production halt at Mercedes-Benz:

# The GOOD Party says on paper, the Western Cape’s unemployment rate appears commendable, but the province has consistently reported lower unemployment than the rest of South Africa over the past decade. According to Statistics SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey for quarter two of this year, the province recorded an unemployment rate of 21.1-percent, compared to the national average of 33.2-percent. GOOD’s Suzette Little says there are 900-thousand job seekers registered on the City of Cape Town’s Expanded Public Works Programme:

# A landslide has killed at least one-thousand people in the remote Marra Mountains in western Sudan. The landslide struck on Sunday after days of heavy rainfall, leaving only one survivor. The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, which controls the area located in the Darfur region, has appealed to the United Nations and international aid agencies to help recover the bodies of victims, including children. Sudan is currently in a civil war, which broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

# Soccer: Reigning Premier League champions Liverpool have signed Alexander Isak from Newcastle in a British record of more than 290-million-rand transfer. The Swedish striker has penned a six-year deal at Anfield. Isak scored 23 Premier League goals for Newcastle last season and netted the winner in the Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool at Wembley, which ended the club’s 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy. Isak is Liverpool’s eighth signing of this transfer window.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-63-cents and the euro at 20-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 110-thousand-268-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-493-dollars-43-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-24-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….