News 15:00

BULLETIN 10 February 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cape Town’s 20.2-percent employment growth outpaces other major metros
# The Referendum Party says the ANC’s statement on international support is hypocrisy
# And cricket: Corbin Bosch replaces Anrich Nortjé in the Proteas’ Champions Trophy squad

# The Striking Disparities in Employment Across South Africa report shows that Cape Town led the country in job growth, with a 20.2-percent increase in jobs from 2014 to 2023. Sectors like retail, call centres, finance, and security helped drive this growth. Over 300-thousand jobs have been added since early 2022. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the success is due to stable governance and a 39.5-billion-rand infrastructure plan that will create 130-thousand construction jobs:

# The Referendum Party says the petulant and panicked ANC news statement demanding that South Africans must defend their national sovereignty, reeked of hypocrisy. The party’s leader, Phil Craig, reminded the ANC when black South Africans were unjustly subjected to race-based laws, international lobbying and support were the primary weapons in the ANC’s arsenal:

Meanwhile, COPE is calling on all South Africans to stand firm in defence of social justice, human dignity, and economic opportunity for all. COPE’s Pakes Dikgetsi says both internal and external forces have sought to undermine these hard-won gains, threatening national cohesion and the collective progress made over the past 30 years. He says the party rejects any attempts to divide people along racial, political or ideological lines:

# France is hosting the Artificial Intelligence Action summit in Paris where political and tech leaders have convened for the two-day event. The summit is co-hosted by French president Emmanuel Macron and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. The summit aims to promote ethical A-I, enhance accessibility, and bolster European sovereignty as experts chart the course of global artificial intelligence development. Topics include the role of A-I in the workplace, cybersecurity threats, disinformation and the importance of inclusive governance.

# Cricket: Titans fast bowler Corbin Bosch has been named as the replacement for the injured Anrich Nortjé in the Proteas squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy in Pakistan. The 30-year-old made his ODI debut in December last year. Eighteen-year-old Kwena Maphaka has also been added as a travelling reserve. Bosch and Maphaka, along with batter Tony de Zorzi, departed for Karachi yesterday to join the squad for the remainder of the tri-nation ODI series against Pakistan and New Zealand.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-40-cents and the euro at 19-rand-1-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-84-cents and Bitcoin trades at 97-thousand-758-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-900-dollars-50-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-45-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….