News 13:00

BULLETIN 26 May 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasises the importance of SA-US relations
# The DA says nearly half-a-billion-rand is spent on CEO’s salaries at 117 SOEs
# And tennis: Lorenzo Musetti improves to his best position in the world rankings

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says his successful working visit to the US affirmed the importance of keeping the channels of dialogue open. In his weekly newsletter, he says one of the key outcomes of discussions with president Donald Trump was an agreement on an economic cooperation channel between the two countries, to engage further on tariffs and a broad range of trade matters. Ramaphosa says there is potential to increase and diversify trade between the two countries in areas such as gas, mining, agriculture and nuclear products.

# The DA says it is disturbed by the rampant executive spending in public entities, where senior managers continue to earn exorbitant salaries, despite underperformance, and repeated bailouts. The party’s Leah Potgieter says across 13 government departments responsible for 117 entities, more than 400-million-rand is spent annually on executive pay. She adds this is often outside the bounds of the Department of Public Service and Administration’s salary guidelines:

# SANParks is urging visitors to adhere to the safety messages which are solely intended to ensure they have a most enjoyable experience on Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town. Spokesperson JP Louw says in two separate incidents this weekend, they assisted young women who were stranded on Signal Hill and Lions Head at night. He says these incidents are concerning:

# Tennis: Italian Lorenzo Musetti keeps improving in the world rankings, replacing Norwegian Casper Ruud in seventh position. This is the only change to the top ten at the start of the French Open. Another Italian, Jannik Sinner, still tops the list since the tenth of June last year. He is followed by defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, Alexander Zverev of Germany, American Taylor Fritz, Briton Jack Draper and three-time champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Alex de Minaur of Australia and Holger Rune of Denmark complete the top-ten.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-87-cents and the euro at 20-rand-35-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-25-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-978-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-331-dollars-82-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-48-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The second Annual Khuma Film Festival in North West will honour award-winning legendary actor, Moditle “Boikie” Pholo, who is best known for his iconic role as Raitlhwana in the 1980s sitcom Lesilo Rula. With a career spanning more than five decades, Pholo is being recognised for his outstanding contribution to the South African film and television industry. The three-day festival, which gets underway at the Philemon Masinga Sports Complex Hall on Wednesday, promises a dynamic lineup that showcases South Africa’s vibrant storytelling tradition.

Stay tuned for more news………….