News 16:00

BULLETIN 5 May 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Paul Mashatile says South Africa will not achieve an inclusive economy as long as corruption persists
# Business groups join the legal fight against the Employment Equity Law
# And tennis: Jannik Sinner returns as the world number one after a three-month suspension

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile says South Africa will not achieve an inclusive economy as long as corruption persists, both in the public and private sectors. He says corruption hinders the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises by increasing costs, reducing profits, and creating uncertainty. Mashatile says to promote an inclusive economy, they must commit to addressing corruption by strengthening institutions, fostering transparency and accountability, and promoting citizen engagement:

# Business groups Sakeliga and the National Employers’ Association of South Africa, NEASA, have slammed the new Employment Equity Amendment Act as unconstitutional, impossible, and harmful. They argue the sectoral numerical targets amount to unlawful race-based quotas that could destroy economic value. This adds to the DA’s legal action claiming the law violates equality rights. Government insists the targets are flexible, aiming for equity. Sakeliga and NEASA plan a joint legal action, warning of deep economic and social damage if the law is enforced.

# South Africans can anticipate a winter without load-shedding, with a worst-case scenario of Stage 2 outages. The utility’s winter outlook is based on expected breakdowns between 13-thousand-MegaWatts and 15-thousand-MegaWatts. Eskom CEO Dan Marokane emphasised that the return of Medupi Unit 4, Kusile Unit 6, and Koeberg Unit 1 is expected to add approximately two-thousand-500-MegaWatts to the grid, bolstering supply during peak demand:

# Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has open the second G20 Culture Working Group Session in Sandton, Johannesburg, today. Hosting 24 countries under the theme ‘Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability,’ the event supports South Africa’s G20 presidency, hosting key discussions including cultural heritage, digital innovation, climate change, and socio-economic integration. McKenzie highlighted culture’s role in sustainable development, in line with the global push for inclusive growth and Africa’s Agenda 2063.

# Tennis: Italian Jannik Sinner returned to the ATP tour with his number one world ranking intact after serving a three-month ban following two failed doping tests in March last year. Alexander Zverev of Germany remains in second place, followed by Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and American Taylor Fritz. Briton Jack Draper replaced Novak Djokovic of Serbia in fifth position, and Norwegian Casper Ruud improved to seventh after winning the Madrid Open yesterday. Alex de Minaur of Australia, Italian Lorenzo Musetti, and Holger Rune of Denmark complete the top-ten.  

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-27-cents and the euro at 20-rand-75-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-37-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-298-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-317-dollars-38-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 60-dollars-8-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….