News 16:00

BULLETIN 20 August 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Institute of Race Relations says government must urgently remove the barriers to job creation
# Rugby: Damian de Allende believes the Boks will be able to rectify their Ellis Park mistakes
# And remote-controlled robots are sent in to remove radioactive debris after the 2011 tsunami in Japan

# The Institute of Race Relations says the government of national unity must pinpoint the main barriers to job creation, and set about removing them with singular determination. The institute has released a report titled, Generating Jobs and Skills for Growth and Prosperity. Spokesperson Michael Morris says some of the key barriers to job creation are a national minimum wage law that prices new entrants out of the labour market, and a pervasive skills deficit that discourages investment:

# Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, JP Smith says yesterday’s attack on three DA Members of Parliament in Philippi was likely a random robbery or hijacking attempt. One suspect was wounded when Ian Cameron fired in self-defence, while three others were arrested and a fourth remains at large. Smith emphasised to SABC News that violent crime in Philippi remains a major concern despite recent crime reductions:

# The DA says residents of Sandton in Johannesburg are facing a serious water shortage while the G20 route for the November summit gets special attention. According to the party, many homes and businesses remain without water, yet officials rushed to inspect parts of Sandton along the G20 route for international optics. The DA’s Leah Potgieter urges mayor Dada Morero to release a transparent maintenance schedule and address all areas equally:

# Rugby: Springbok centre Damian de Allende believes they will be able to rectify their mistakes when they face the Wallabies again in a Rugby Championship clash in Cape Town on Saturday. The Boks raced to a 22-0 lead at Ellis Park last weekend before eventually losing 22-38. De Allende, who watched the disaster from the sidelines, will be in the starting-15 this weekend. He says they’ve done a lot of long meetings this week and know exactly what has to be changed to get back to winning ways.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 20-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 113-thousand-584-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-335-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-3-cents a barrel. 

# And finally: Japanese technicians at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant have sent in remote-controlled robots to one of the damaged reactor buildings as part of preparations to remove radioactive debris. Dangerously high radiation levels mean that removing melted fuel and other debris from the plant hit by a huge tsunami is seen as the most daunting challenge in the decades-long decommissioning project. Around 880 tonnes of hazardous material remain inside the power station, the site of one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents after a tsunami triggered by a nine-magnitude earthquake in 2011.

Stay tuned for more news………….