News 18:00

BULLETIN 28 August 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ford South Africa plans to lay off more than 470 workers in Pretoria and Gqeberha
# The DA demands answers after Nersa’s 54-billion-rand Eskom tariff error
# And the EU summons Russia’s envoy in Brussels after an attack on its diplomatic mission in Ukraine

# Solidarity says Ford South Africa has offically informed them of its intention to lay off more than 470 employees. The notice indicates this is due to a realignment of Ford’s production capacity to correspond with the current and expected market demand. The plan is to reduce 391 operator positions at the Silverton manufacturing plant in Pretoria, 73 at the Struandale engine plant in Gqeberha, and ten administrative positions. Solidarity says it sees the announcement as the beginning of possible larger job losses facing the entire automotive industry.

# The DA has condemned a 54-billion-rand tariff error by the energy regulator, Nersa, that will push electricity prices higher. The party says mistakes in Eskom’s depreciation and asset calculations mean consumers will face extra increases in the next two financial years. The DA’s Kevin Mileham has called on Parliament’s portfolio committee on Energy and Electricity to investigate how the error happened and to prevent similar mistakes:

# Namibia’s Statistics Agency says the country recorded a trade surplus of 856-million-rand in June. Exports were predominantly mineral-based, including uranium, non-monetary gold, diamonds, and copper, with fish being the only non-mineral product in the top five. China emerged as the leading export destination, while South Africa remained the primary source of imports. According to spokesperson Mirjam Shihepo, re-exports declined by five-percent month-on-month and nearly eight-percent year-on-year:

# The European Uninon summoned Russia’s envoy in Brussels after a massive attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv killed at least 14 people and damaged the bloc’s diplomatic mission. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called it proof that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine, blindly killing civilians, men, women and children, and even targeting the EU. EU officials shared a picture of the inside of an office with the windows blown out, the ceiling partially hanging down and debris scattered on the floor.

# Rugby: Wales Women’s head coach, Sean Lynn, made big changes to his team for Saturday’s important World Cup group match against Canada in Manchester, England. Wales has to win to survive the group stage after going down 38-8 to Scotland in their opening encounter. There are seven changes to the starting team, captained by Bethan Lewis for the first time, while the bench has also been overhauled. Wales faces Fiji in their final group match, with the top-two teams qualifying for the quarterfinals.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-66-cents and the euro at 20-rand-64-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 112-thousand-712-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-410-dollars-26-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-81-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….