News 13:00

BULLETIN 9 February 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# OUTA refuses to retract its N-S-FAS report despite legal threats
# The SA steel sector anticipates tough wage negotiations this year due to economic challenges
# And Olympics: Medals for the Paris Games contain a piece of the Eiffel Tower 

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse says it will not retract its report on leaked voice recordings implicating Higher Education, Science and Innovation minister, Blade Nzimande, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme’s chairperson, Ernest Khosa, in corruption, despite legal threats. Khosa demanded a retraction, but OUTA says it’s its duty to report evidence to law enforcement. It says it’s ready to engage with Khosa under specific terms. OUTA’s Stefanie Fick anticipates a vigorous defence against potential legal claims:

# The Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council anticipates tough wage negotiations this year due to economic challenges in the sector. The pre-bargaining conference in Kempton Park, Gauteng, set the tone for upcoming discussions. Labour representatives mostly advocate to extend the current wage agreement by another year. The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa’s Lucio Trentini hopes for positive outcomes in the upcoming negotiations to avert strikes:

# City Power kick-started this year’s revenue collection drive in Midrand yesterday, targeting several defaulting business and residential customers that collectively owe millions of rand in unpaid electricity bills. The City of Johannesburg’s power utility is owed 360-million-rand in unpaid accounts in the Midrand area. City Power’s spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, says they targeted 14 customers who owed almost 58-million-rand:

# Olympics: The medals awarded at this year’s Games in Paris will contain a piece of the Eiffel Tower. The organisers revealed the medals, showing a hexagon-shaped piece of iron set like a gemstone in the middle. The metal was taken from a warehouse used to stock offcuts by the operation company which maintains the tower. The medals were designed by elite local jewellery company Chaumet (SHOW-may). A total of five-thousand-and-84 gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded during the Games from 26 July to 11 August.

# And finally: A study shows to the possibility of a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease in men taking Viagra. Scientists did research on over 260-thousand men and found those taking the drug for erectile dysfunction were 18-percent less likely to develop the dementia-causing condition. BBC News reports scientists are also searching for existing drugs that could prevent or delay Alzheimer’s. Viagra was originally designed to treat high blood pressure, and works by acting on a cell-signalling messenger that may also be linked to memory.

Stay tuned for more news………….