News 14:00

BULLETIN 20 August 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# NERSA approves 124 generation facilities in the first quarter of the financial year
# North Korea fires another suspected ballistic missile
# And tennis: Aryna Sabalenka is knocked out of the Cincinnati Open

# Energy regulator NERSA has registered 124 generation facilities during the first quarter of the current financial year. These facilities have a total capacity of 804 megawatts, with an estimated investment value of 20.18-billion-rand. Solar photovoltaic technology was the most popular choice for electricity generation. NERSA’s Charles Hlebela says of the 124 registered facilities, 63 are connected to municipal distribution networks, and 61 to Eskom’s network:

# National Coloured Congress leader and suspended MP, Fadiel Adams, has been taken through the verification of documents he claims were slipped under his office door. He told the Madlanga commission some documents appeared to be in his handwriting but were not part of the original file. He also questioned whether the bundle contained more paperwork than he had handed over, although he said the documents were consistent with those he received:

# Union federation SAFTU fully endorses union FAWU’s demand for a 13-percent across the board wage increase in the sugar manufacturing and refining industry. Thousands of sugar workers resumed protected strike action this week following the collapse of wage negotiations. The Sugar Manufacturing and Refining Employers’ Association has offered a 5.4-percent wage increase. SAFTU’s Asive Dyani rejects the narrative that workers must once again sacrifice because the industry faces economic challenges:

Moving abroad:

# North Korea has fired another suspected ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan. South Korean and Japanese authorities say the launch came just days before major military exercises involving the United States and South Korea, which Pyongyang has long condemned as provocative. Seoul says the missile was launched from the Wonsan area and travelled about 700 kilometres before landing in waters off the Korean Peninsula. It was North Korea’s second missile launch in less than a week. The United States, South Korea and Japan are closely monitoring developments.

# Tennis: Thirty-fifth-ranked Czech Sara Bejlek stunned world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus to advance to her first-ever WTA One-thousand quarterfinal at the Cincinnati Open. Bejlek will next face former champion Madison Keys of the US, who beat China’s Xiyu Wang. Coco Gauff and her American compatriot Amanda Anisimova are also through to the quarterfinals. In the men’s draw, American Frances Tiafoe defeated Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach his second Masters One-thousand quarterfinal of the season.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-11-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-87-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-784-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-485-dollars-25-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 95-dollars-20-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….