News 12:00

BULLETIN 30 April 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cosatu criticises the DA’s attack on the Employment Equity Amendment Act
# The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service encourages consumers to expand their knowledge of how to identify a scam
# And, France wants to add a handling fee to packages from platforms like Shein and Temu

# 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:

# The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service says consumers can expand their knowledge of how to identify a scam. The organisation launched Yima in response to the growing need for a proactive approach to fraud prevention. The fraud service’s Elmi Kemp says the method of deception used to scam targets involves a sophisticated blending of impersonation, social engineering and cyber scams:

# France wants to start charging non-EU online sellers a handling fee for each low-value package, as the country copes with an influx of cheap goods from China. Such a fee would help cover the cost of checking small packages ordered by EU consumers via platforms such as Chinese-founded firms Temu and Shein. In 2024, 4.6-billion packages, each worth under one-thousand-200-rand with 91-percent from China, entered the EU. Merchandise worth less than one-thousand-200-rand, excluding VAT, purchased by mail and sent directly from a third country is not subject to EU customs duties.

# Soccer: Barcelona star Lamine Yamal said he is focussed on being himself and not on comparisons to Lionel Messi, ahead of the Champions League semi-final clash against Inter Milan today. The 17-year-old star has become a key figure on the right flank, where Barca’s all-time top goalscorer Messi operated for many years, with both players coming through their youth academy. Barcelona last reached the Champions League final with Messi on the right of the attack in 2015 and Yamal is hoping to lead the Catalan giants back there this season.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-63-cents and the euro at 21-rand-17-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-89-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-595-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-286-dollars-88-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-13-cents a barrel.

# And finally, a new study shows that only 9.5-percent of the 400-million tonnes of plastic produced globally in 2022 came from recycled material. The rest was almost entirely made from fossil fuels, mainly coal and oil. Recycling rates remain low, with just 27.9-percent of plastic waste recycled and 40-percent going to landfills. While China is the biggest producer and consumer of plastic, Americans consume the most plastic per capita. The International Legally Binding Instrument on plastic pollution is scheduled to be finalised later this year.

Stay tuned for more news………….