News 11:00

BULLETIN 30 April 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cosatu criticises the DA’s attack on the Employment Equity Amendment Act
# Dali Mpofu will today appear before the Legal Practice Council over alleged misconduct
# And, the UN chief warns a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine is at risk

# The Congress of South African Trade Unions says it is dismayed by the DA’s spurious attack on Employment Equity. The DA has filed a court application challenging the employment equity quotas in the Employment Equity Amendment Act, which it says are merely racial exclusion under a new name. The act sets hiring quotas for economic sectors, including mining and transport, to construction and agriculture. Cosatu’s spokesperson, Matthew Parks, says they are confident that the DA’s application will be dismissed:

# Advocate Dali Mpofu is set to appear before the Legal Practice Council today, in a disciplinary hearing regarding his alleged misconduct. The MK Party member faces charges related to complaints submitted to the council, involving allegedly disparaging and sexist comments made during hearings, and how he handled the cross-examination of witnesses. Four of the charges relate to Mpofu’s conduct during the 2022 section 194 inquiry into former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office. Mpofu has described the charges as frivolous and completely unsustainable.

# The Public Servants Association has expressed outrage at the Gauteng government’s exorbitant expenditure on renting office space for provincial departments. MEC for Infrastructure Development Jacob Mamabolo recently revealed that 34-million-rand per month was being spent on renting office space, despite the provincial government owning 41 vacant buildings. The association’s Claude Naiker says this wasteful expenditure is unacceptable, especially when these funds could be better utilised to improve public services and infrastructure:

# United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has warned that the promise of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine is nearing collapse. Fighting is continuing in Gaza with Israel intensifying its ground and aerial operations across the enclave in a bid to eradicate Hamas. Nearly two-thousand Palestinians have been killed since the March ceasefire collapsed. Guterres has renewed his calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and full humanitarian access:

# Tennis: Twenty-four-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from next week’s Italian Open with no reason given. The Serb has competed in Rome in every season since 2007 and has won the event six times. The out-of-form Djokovic has suffered early exits in two clay-court tournaments in recent weeks, in Monte Carlo and Madrid. This is all ahead of the French Open, which the world number five has won three times. The second Grand Slam of the season starts on May 26.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-54-cents and the euro at 21-rand-12-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-771-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-306-dollars-73-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-49-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….