News 15:00

BULLETIN 24 June 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa sheds 74-thousand jobs in just three months
# The DA says minister John Steenhuisen stopped a bread price hike
# And rugby: Rassie Erasmus names four uncapped players in the Boks’ team for the Barbarians clash

# Statistics South Africa has reported a drop of 74-thousand jobs in the formal sector between January and March, bringing total employment down to just over ten-million. The biggest losses were in trade and community services, while manufacturing and construction saw small gains. Stats SA’s Matlapane Masupye says full-time jobs fell by 55-thousand and part-time jobs by 19-thousand, while total earnings dropped by more than 47-billion-rand:

# The DA says it is proud to recognise a victory by Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen, which will stop the price of bread from going up. The party says the minister has identified and terminated an inherited arrangement where a supplier had been authorised to conduct quality inspections of breads and grains at retailers across the country. The DA’s Willie Aucamp says a supplier was going to impose a charge on stores, which was going to push up the bread price:

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Social Development says new rules imposed by the National Treasury on the South African Social Security Agency are causing widespread delays, confusion, and distress among social grant recipients. The committee’s chairperson, Bridget Masango, says while fighting fraud is important, the current system is too strict and is hurting the elderly, disabled, and rural communities who cannot easily access help:

# Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, are planning to meet on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague in the Netherlands tomorrow. A senior source in the Ukrainian Presidency told AFP the discussion would focus on their purchase of a defence package, consisting largely of air defence systems, and on more sanctions against Russia. Zelensky has been a central figure at recent summits, but given his fractious relationship with Trump, he has not been invited to the main working session with NATO members.

# Rugby: Four debutants were named in head coach Rassie Erasmus’ Springbok team for Saturday’s match against the Barbarians in Cape Town. Prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye and flanker Vincent Tshituka are in the starting-15, and hooker Marnus van der Merwe and prop Neethling Fouché on the bench. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will wear the number 10 jersey, with Manie Libbok on the bench. Lock Lood de Jager returns for his first Test since before 2023’s World Cup, and will partner Jean Kleyn. Captain Siya Kolisi will play in his 93rd Test.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-73-cents and the euro at 20-rand-58-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-14-cents and Bitcoin trades at 105-thousand-114-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-327-dollars-77-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-61-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….