News 06:00

BULLETIN 19 February 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ANC has until today to hand over its cadre deployment records
# Eskom will keep load-shedding suspended during the day
# And, Solidarity calls for economic freedom from excessive taxation 

# The ANC has until today to hand over its complete records of the cadre deployment committee dating back to the first of January 2013, when president Cyril Ramaphosa became its chairperson. This is in line with a Constitutional Court order. DA leader, John Steenhuisen, says should the ANC fail to hand over its cadre deployment records today, they will petition the Constitutional Court to charge the ruling party with contempt of court. The DA has always maintained that the ANC’s cadre deployment policy is unconstitutional and unlawful.

# Eskom says it will keep load-shedding suspended during the day before implementing it during the evening. Load-shedding will be suspended from five in the morning until four in the afternoon when stage two will be implemented until five in the morning. This schedule will be enforced until further notice. Eskom’s spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says while the available generation capacity has been sustained, the need to replenish the emergency reserves for the week necessitates an increase in the stage of load-shedding:

# Trade union Solidarity urges Finance minister Enoch Godongwana to set citizens free from excessive taxation in the upcoming budget speech. The union calls for an adjustment to the personal income tax bracket, including practical plans to address inefficient spending in sectors like education and health care. Solidarity’s Theuns du Buisson proposes a special priority fund of approximately five-billion-rand annually to actively address various national issues:

# The National Student Financial Aid Scheme has deployed its servicing administrators to all institutions, TVET colleges, and universities across the country, to provide registration support. It received more than 1.9-million bursary applications. For universities, it disbursed 2.8-billion-rand in January. This disbursement does not include the calculation of the tranche payments, which NSFAS will disburse at the beginning of April. A total of 580.1-million-rand was paid to colleges for tuition upfront, and an additional 1-billion-rand is earmarked for three months’ worth of allowances to be paid based on registration.

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says although Covid-19 has been classified as no longer a public health emergency of international concern, it remains an ever-evolving endemic virus. Yesterday, he concluded his participation at the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union. As the Champion of the AU’s Covid-19 response, Ramaphosa presented a report on the continent’s response to the pandemic and the state of readiness against future health threats. He has urged leaders to continue improving the levels of alertness of their countries against future pandemics.

# Cricket: England captain, Ben Stokes, says they have no regrets about their approach despite slumping to a 434-run defeat by India in the third Test in Rajkot. The visitors were bowled out for just 122 late on day four, having been set 557 for victory. Ravindra Jadeja was named player of the match for his seven wickets in the Test and 112 with the bat in the first innings. India leads the five-match series two-one. Stokes says they won’t change their method despite criticism:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-84-cents and the euro at 20-rand-33-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-80-cents and Bitcoin trades at 52-thousand-74-dollars-63-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-18-dollars-86-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-92-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….