News 11:00

BULLETIN 29 October 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The minister of Social Development is calling for a reframing of grants from poverty relief to social protection
# NEASA warns the decline in the steel sector signals a broader economic crisis
# And cricket: The Proteas Women hope it’s third time lucky against England today

# Social Development minister Sisisi Tolashe has called for a reimagining of grants as strategic levers for social protection rather than being limited to poverty relief. More than 20-million South Africans depend on social grants as an income-generation measure to alleviate poverty, unemployment, and inequality. Tolashe has identified three pillars that would help reframe grants from poverty relief to social protection. These are recognising that social grants are foundational, redesigning grant distribution, and embedding linkages between social grant distribution and the informal economy.

# The National Employers’ Association of South Africa says the steel sector is in sharp decline, signalling serious concerns for the economy. Over the past five years, the number of employers has fallen by 12-percent, while employment dropped by 23-percent, meaning110-thousand people lost their work. NEASA’s Gerhard Papenfus blames high wages, government interference, high tariffs, crime, corruption, and poor infrastructure. He calls for decisive leadership to prevent further job losses and revive the sector.

# A 56-year-old man has been arrested after police discovered 20-million-rand worth of cocaine at his house in Midrand, Gauteng. As part of a crime intelligence-driven operation, police followed up on information about drugs that were being stored at a plot in Blue Hills. National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe says the cocaine was found hidden in a storage room:

Moving abroad:

# Israeli air strikes killed at least 33 people, including children, in Gaza yesterday. This comes after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military to carry out immediate, powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip after accusing Hamas of killing a soldier and staging the discovery of a dead hostage. Hamas denounced what it called the criminal bombardment by Israel, which it said violated the ceasefire agreement. Israeli government spokesperson, David Mencer, told Sky News they remain committed to the ceasefire:

# Cricket: The Proteas Women hope it’s third time lucky when they face England in a World Cup semifinal again today. South Africa lost to England in the penultimate rounds of the previous two one-day World Cups. On top of that, England beat the Proteas by ten wickets in the first match of this year’s tournament. But top-order batter Suné Luus says they won’t allow that statistics to affect them in Guwahati, India, today. She says they are just focusing on winning by playing good cricket.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-13-cents and the euro at 19-rand-96-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-66-cents and Bitcoin trades at 113-thousand-279-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-998-dollars-3-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-7-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….