News 12:00

BULLETIN 22 May 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The IRR says the meeting between Ramaphosa and Trump exposed South Africa’s failing policies
# SAFTU says the budget failed to reverse the deep austerity cuts
# And rugby: A 20-minute red card law is approved for a global trial

# The Institute of Race Relations says president Cyril Ramaphosa’s meeting with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, exposed the growing cost of South Africa’s failing policies, damaging investor confidence and international credibility. Yesterday’s meeting at the White House was mainly focused on farm killings, with Trump reiterating his claims of genocide in South Africa. The IRR’s Hermann Pretorius says government must end race-based policies:

Meanwhile, Giwusa has accused Ramaphosa of betraying the national liberation struggle, begging favours from what the union says is the world’s leading racist imperialist. The meeting was also aimed at resetting relations between the two nations. Giwusa president, Mametlwe Sebei, says the meeting was not diplomacy as the media wants people to believe:

# Union federation Saftu says while the budget offered a modest real increase of 0.8-percent in non-interest government expenditure, it failed to reverse the deep austerity cuts imposed over the past decade. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana tabled the national budget in Parliament yesterday. Saftu’s spokesperson, Newton Masuku, says expenditure trends since 2008 show that this year’s increase, although positive, follows more than ten-years of real cuts or stagnation:

# Rugby: World Rugby’s Council has approved the global trial of the 20-minute red card, despite resistance from several international unions, including France and Ireland. This comes after it was tried in several competitions in the northern hemisphere season. The law allows a player who has a committed an act of foul play to be replaced by another player after 20-minutes. The offending player cannot return to the field. A decision on the permanent adoption of the law will be made in 2026.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-95-cents and the euro at 20-rand-33-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-1-cent and Bitcoin trades at 110-thousand-882-dollars-14-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-319-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-83-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The SpaceX Dragon is return to Earth tomorrow, carrying over three-thousand-kilograms of scientific experiments, hardware, and supplies from the International Space Station. The spacecraft is scheduled to depart the ISS at 6pm this evening following a 30-day mission. Its cargo includes materials that were exposed to space, robotics designed for capturing debris in orbit, and experimental components for future spacecraft. Splashdown is expected off the coast of California. NASA will livestream the undocking.

Stay tuned for more news………….