News 13:00

BULLETIN 5 June 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cosatu is grateful for minister Meth’s intervention to halt Pick n Pay’s retrenchments
# FIFA bans water bottles at World Cup stadiums
# And the South African Reserve Bank honors Tito Mboweni with an inaugural memorial lecture

# Union federation Cosatu has expressed gratitude to minister of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth, for effectively intervening in Pick n Pay’s mooted retrenchment of over 22-thousand workers. She recently convened the national leadership of Cosatu, union SACCAWU, and top Pick n Pay executives, succeeding in steering them toward common ground. Cosatu’s Zanele Sabela says the retailer was persuaded to withdraw the Section 189 notices, marking a major achievement:

# The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa has warned that severe flooding in key citrus-producing regions will reduce export volumes by at least five-percent. The worst-affected areas include Patensie in the Eastern Cape, and Citrusdal and Boland in the Western Cape. The association says damage assessments are ongoing, with some growers still unable to access orchards. Mandarin crops have been the hardest hit, while infrastructure damage has disrupted harvesting. Despite lower volumes, the association say the quality and reliability of citrus exports to international markets remains intact.

# The MK Party says it fully supports the anti-immigration civic group March and March Movement. The group has given undocumented foreigners until 30 June to leave the country, otherwise it plans to hold a national shutdown in a bid to send them back to their countries of origin. The MK Party’s secretary-general, Sibonelo Nomvalo, has accused undocumented foreigners of establishing drug cartels and criminal syndicates in South Africa:

# Soccer: World governing body FIFA has banned spectators from taking re-usable water bottles to World Cup games for safety reasons. Cups, jars and cans are also prohibited. FIFA says this is to lower the risk of fans throwing missiles onto the playing field. It says it is committed to the protection of the health of all players, referees, spectators, volunteers and staff. Water will be sold at stadiums. The tournament kicks off next week Thursday with the opening match between South Africa and co-hosts Mexico in Mexico City.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-27-cents and the euro at 18-rand-94-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-928-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-467-dollars-4-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 93-dollars-53-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The South African Reserve Bank has hosted the inaugural Tito Mboweni memorial lecture, paying tribute to the bank’s late former governor, and Finance and Labour minister. Governor Lesetja Kganyago described Mboweni as a giant of economic policy and a champion of accountable public institutions. He says the annual event will celebrate Mboweni’s legacy as South Africa navigates growing global uncertainty, protectionism and challenges to multilateral cooperation:

Stay tuned for more news………….