News 11:00

BULLETIN 2 June 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says 200-thousand participants in the Basic Education Employment Initiative are at work
# The DA demands a Defence Industry Lekgotla
# And, Karol Nawrocki is Poland’s new president

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Basic Education Employment Initiative is bringing hope and incomes to places where opportunities are often out of reach. About 200-thousand young people, who are participants in the fifth phase of the initiative, have started working in schools today. In his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa says graduates are prioritised for work in the classroom, to allow teachers to spend more time on teaching and lesson preparation. He adds that these young people will leave the school environment having contributed and made a difference.

# The DA says Defence minister Angie Motshekga’s continued failure to deliver on a long-promised South African Defence Industry Lekgotla is concerning, given that the country’s defence industry is in steep decline. The defence industry has seen revenue fall from 19.5-billion-rand in 2016 to 12.5-billion-rand in 2020. The DA’s, Chris Hattingh, says this Lekgotla, first proposed under former minister Thandi Modise, was meant to provide a path forward for the struggling sector:

# Rand Water says it has completed its major maintenance on the B16 project, and now pumping at the Mapleton system in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, has commenced. The maintenance work, which started last Thursday, saw pumping capacity reduced at the Eikenhof, Palmiet, Mapleton, and Zwartkopjes systems. Areas within the cities of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Tshwane also experienced low pressure or intermittent water supply. Rand Water’s spokesperson, Makenosi Maroo, says the water supply won’t return instantly as the system needs time to build capacity:

# Conservative historian Karol Nawrocki has been elected as Poland’s new president. The 42-year-old, aligned with the right-wing populist Law and Justice Party, won 50.9-percent percent of the votes, while his opponent, Liberal pro-European Union candidate Rafal Trzaskowski, claimed 49.1-percent percent of the votes. Nawrocki, who positioned himself as a defender of traditional Polish values, is a champion of US president Donald Trump and strongly opposes the EU’s climate and migration policies. During his campaign, Nawrocki promised to ease abortion restrictions and promote constructive ties with European partners.

# Golf: Sweden’s Maja Stark carded a final-round 72 to claim her maiden major title with a two-shot victory at the US Women’s Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. World number one American Nelly Korda shared second place with Japan’s Rio Takeda on five under. South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi and countrywoman Mao Saigo, who was chasing back-to-back major titles, shared fourth spot with China’s Ruoning Yin. Stark says she did not think a major title was possible for her:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-91-cents and the euro at 20-rand-43-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 105-thousand-347-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-349-dollars-44-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-5-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….