News 09:00

BULLETIN 13 August 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Eskom uses additional resources for repairs  in severe weather conditions
# Rugby: The Stormers-23 have made five changes for their Currie Cup clash with the Pumas
# And finally: Millions of sky-gazers in Europe experienced a rare total solar eclipse

# Eskom has mobilised additional technical resources across several provinces following electricity supply disruptions caused by severe weather. Parts of the country have been experiencing heavy rainfall, snowfall, strong winds and extreme cold this week. KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and the Free State are among the provinces that have experienced weather-related faults and damage to electricity infrastructure. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena says the severe weather has damaged electricity infrastructure, caused multiple network faults and made several affected areas difficult or unsafe to access:

# Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, says transformation and economic inclusion are moral and economic imperatives central to South Africa’s democratic political order. He delivered a keynote address at the Black Business Council’s Annual Summit in Johannesburg yesterday. Tau has emphasised that the country’s economy cannot grow sustainably if the majority of its people remain excluded. He added that Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment seeks to unlock the full potential of the economy:

# ActionSA says it will be lodging a complaint with the Public Protector over what it calls an unjustified delay by the City of Johannesburg in handing over the Johannesburg International Transport Interchange to its intended beneficiaries. The 400-million-rand transport facility, which was conceived as a central hub for long-distance and cross-border buses, minibus taxis, retail activities and commuter facilities, is standing idle. ActionSA’s Mpumi Edward says the metro cannot continue to neglect facilities that could assist in improving revenue collection:

# Rugby: The Stormers-23’s coach, Tom Dawson-Squibb, made five changes to his side for Saturday’s Currie Cup match against the Pumas in Mbombela. The team lost two of their previous four matches, including against the Free State last weekend, and is currently sixth on the log. Dawson-Squibb says his men will need an 80-minute performance to secure a valuable away victory. He welcomes back Wandile Mlaba, Keke Morabe and Herman Lubbe, who featured for the senior team against the All Blacks last week.  

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-15-cents and the euro at 18-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-78-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-544-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-399-dollars-21-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 91-dollars-34-cents a barrel.

# And finally, a solar eclipse swept across parts of Europe yesterday, with a rare total eclipse visible in Spain, Portugal, Iceland and Greenland. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, resulting in the moon casting a shadow on the Earth. A partial eclipse, in which only some of the sun’s light is blocked from view, passed over the northern US, Canada, much of Europe and northwestern Africa. This total eclipse was the first in mainland Europe in two decades.

Stay tuned for more news………….