Daily Podcast – August 02, 2018

2nd August 2018 By: Thabi Shomolekae - Creamer Media Senior Writer

Daily Podcast – August 02, 2018

Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba
Photo by: timeslive

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: Mayor Mashaba says Johannesburg City creates 109 000 new jobs; UN urges restraint following Zimbabwe violence; And, Prasa says its lapsed safety permit is being finalised

 

Mayor Mashaba says Johannesburg City creates 109 000 new jobs

Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba today announced that the City had created "109 000 new jobs in the first two quarters of 2018 and reduced the expanded unemployment rate from 32.3% to 30.8%".

Mashaba said the development was first reported in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa earlier this week.

Mashaba sympathised that this growth in Johannesburg had taken place at a time when 418 000 more people joined the ranks of the unemployed nationally, and 115 000 more in Gauteng did over the same period.

He added that change that creates jobs is taking root in Johannesburg and a greater degree of business confidence is developing.

The mayor said the City has achieved a record of R8.7-billion in investment in the 2017/18 financial year, which he said exceeded their targets by more than R3 billion".

 

UN urges restraint following Zimbabwe violence

The UN has urged the Zimbabwean government to reject violence following the outbreak of clashes between security forces and protesters angered at interim election results, which left three people dead.

UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters at a briefing yesterday that the UN was concerned about the reports.

Haq reminded current office holders and political parties of the commitments they made through the Peace Pledge, signed on June 26, and the agreed Code of Conduct for a peaceful electoral process.

In June, UN secretary-general António Guterres condemned an explosion that took place at an election rally in Zimbabwe, shortly after sitting President Emmerson Mnangagwa – who is running again for a full term - left the stage.

Throughout July, amid increasing reports of voter intimidation and coercion linked to the ruling ZANU-PF party, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, underscored the need for a peaceful and credible election.

 

And, Prasa says its lapsed safety permit is being finalised

The Passenger Rail Agency of SA says it has been issued with a new safety permit, which is presently being "finalised".

This as the Railway Safety Regulator announced yesterday that it was operating illegally when its previous one expired on Tuesday.

Prasa spokesperson Nana Zenani confirmed that they had in fact been issued with a permit. However, she was unclear as to whether it was an extension of its old permit while the RSR considers several safety compliance issues which had been pointed out to the agency earlier.

Zenani said Prasa never considered itself as operating illegally because they had been in discussions with the RSR since last week ahead of the expiration date on July 31. They had apparently not been contacted by the RSR regarding the permit and had only heard about the matter in the media.

 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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