News 18:00

BULLETIN 16 May 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa urges accountability for the building collapse tragedy in George
# The Basic Education Department welcomes the passing of the BELA Bill 
# And Rugby: Evan Roos commits to the Stormers for the long-term

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for accountability for last week’s building collapse tragedy in George. Eighty-one people were on site when the building under construction collapsed, resulting in 33 deaths. Twelve of the injured are still in hospital with 19 people still missing. Ramaphosa addressed the families of the victims and urged patience during the investigations. He praised the disaster management team’s commitment to the ongoing rescue and recovery efforts:

# The Basic Education Department has welcomed the National Assembly’s approval of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill. With 223 votes in favour and 78 against, minister Angie Motshekga hailed it as a watershed moment. She says the bill addresses critical challenges and harmonises school language policies with provincial directives while maintaining the constitutional right to education:

But the Western Cape government says it strongly opposes the passing of the bill in the National Assembly. Education MEC David Maynier cites concerns over the erosion of governing bodies’ powers, the centralisation of authority away from provinces, procedural flaws, and financial implications:

# Economic expert Raymond Parsons says unemployment in South Africa will likely continue for years. The country’s unemployment rate rose to 32.9-percent in the first quarter of 2024. Parsons blames the higher unemployment rate on the weak economy and seasonal factors. He says the ongoing high unemployment is linked to the country’s minimal gross domestic product growth. According to Parsons this underscores the urgent need for job-rich growth strategies to address South Africa’s employment crisis.

# Rugby: Springbok loose forward Evan Roos has signed a contract extension that will see him continue to play for the Stormers until at least 2027. The explosive Roos is the latest player to be confirmed as remaining in Cape Town, following the announcement of similar contract extensions for Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Dan du Plessis and Ruben van Heerden. Stormers director of rugby John Dobson says adding a player of Roos’s quality to the growing list of long-term extensions is another vote of confidence in the direction the squad is heading in.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-23-cents and the euro at 19-rand-80-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-6-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-137-dollars-57-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-374-dollars-83-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-46-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….