News 15:00

BULLETIN 14 May 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Institute for Race Relations says the NHI is a grave threat to South Africa’s fragile tax base
# SA’s unemployment rate increases to 32.9-percent in the first quarter
# And athletics: A European court is to deliver a final verdict on Caster Semenya’s testosterone case 

# The Institute of Race Relations warns that placing South Africa’s entire health care system under government control is likely to accelerate middle-class emigration, triggering a calamitous decline in tax revenue. It says this will happen when president Cyril Ramaphosa signs the National Health Insurance Bill into law tomorrow. The IRR’s Michael Morris says private health care, too, will in time be controlled by government:

# Employed persons increased by 22-thousand to 16.7-million in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. According to Statistics SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey the number of unemployed persons increased by 330-thousand to 8.2-million during the same quarter. These changes resulted in the official unemployment rate increasing by 0.8 of a percentage point from 32.1-percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 32.9-percent in the first quarter of this year. The industries that contributed to the net employment increase include trade, manufacturing, private households, transport, agriculture and mining.

# Tourism minister Patricia de Lille says the sector is lucrative, but criminal activities threaten its growth. Speaking at the Africa’s Travel Indaba at the Durban International Convention Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, De Lille says the Tourism Investment Seminar focuses on combating crime in the sector while showcasing investment opportunities in South Africa. She emphasised that crime eradication will boost tourism rates across the continent:

# Russian president Vladimir Putin will visit China on Thursday and meet with leader Xi Jinping. This is the Russian leader’s first trip abroad since his March re-election and his second in just over six months to China. The Kremlin says the two leaders would discuss their comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation as well as define key areas of development of Russian-Chinese cooperation and exchange views on international and regional issues. They will also attend an evening marking 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

# Athletics: The European Court of Human Rights is tomorrow set to make its final decision on Caster Semenya’s legal battle over testosterone regulations. The double Olympic 800 metres champion is challenging the requirement to lower her testosterone levels in order to compete. She won a previous ruling, with the court finding discrimination in the earlier decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Semenya argues the regulations violate her dignity and human rights.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-38-cents and the euro at 19-rand-85-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-9-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-789-dollars-69-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-344-dollars-97-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-23-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….