News 12:00

BULLETIN 22 July 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Godongwana calls an urgent Public Investment Corporation general meeting amid a board exodus
# Rugby: Victor Matfield says the rejuvenated All Blacks will face a stern test from the Springboks
# And remote job opportunities have reached their highest level on record in South Africa

# Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana has called an urgent general meeting of the embattled Public Investment Corporation for next week, where the remaining five nonexecutive directors will face a vote for their removal. This comes after four more board members resigned yesterday, bringing to six the number of nonexecutive directors to quit. The PIC, which manages more than 3.6-trillion-rand in assets, has suspended its CEO, Patrick Dlamini. According to reports, the remaining five board members, including chairperson David Masondo, will make a presentation at the meeting before the vote.

# City Power in Johannesburg says cable theft, vandalism, and other infrastructure-related incidents cost the utility more than 311-thousand-rand in one weekend. Spokesperson Isaac Mangena says the power utility recorded 19 incidents, including cable theft, substation fires, and vandalism, between Thursday and Sunday. He says the biggest theft involved about 400 metres of copper cable in Jeppestown, while three suspects were arrested in Marshalltown for allegedly stealing underground cables:

# KwaZulu-Natal Transport and Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma says road safety operations will be intensified. This follows after 36 schoolchildren were found travelling in an overloaded minibus taxi near Park Rynie on the first day of the new school term. Spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya says the taxi was impounded and the driver, who was not carrying a driver’s licence, was fined more than two-thousand-rand:

# Rugby: Springbok legend Victor Matfield insists the rejuvenated All Blacks will be tested by the Springboks’ aggressive defence in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series next month. Under new coach Dave Rennie, New Zealand has scored at least five tries in each of their three Nations Championship victories over France, Italy and Ireland. Matfield says the Bok team is at such a level that it’s very difficult for anyone to put them under pressure. He adds facing the world champions will be the ultimate test for the All Blacks.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-49-cents and the euro at 18-rand-80-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-6-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-21-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-117-dollars-23-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-57-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Work-from-home job opportunities in South Africa have reached an all-time high in the first half of this year. This is according to job platform Pnet’s latest Job Market Trends Report, which shows remote employment opportunities were 28-percent higher compared with the same period last year, while opportunities have grown by 41-percent over the past two years. Pnet’s Paul Byrne told Newzroom Afrika work-from-home positions have expanded beyond the technology sector and are now becoming common across a broad range of industries:

Stay tuned for more news………….