News 13:00

BULLETIN 28 December 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Wildfires continue in the Garden Route District
# The court application by the Information Regulator against the Basic Education Department is set for 7 January
# And tennis: Swiatek doesn’t expect Wada to appeal over her doping sanction

# The Garden Route District Municipality in the Southern Cape says firefighters continue to battle several wildfires. Spokesperson Herman Pieters says after aerial and specialist interventions were used to manage a fire that ignited in Jongensfontein, two successful counter burns were made to reinforce the most critical containment lines. Other affected areas are De Kombuis, Koos Raubenheimer Dam, and the Swartberg Mountains, west of the Swartberg Pass. Pieters says the fire near the pass remains inaccessible for mop-up activities due to terrain challenges:

Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town is appealing to president Cyril Ramaphosa and Human Settlements minister, Thembisile Simelane, to devolve the emergency housing grant to the city and other metros across the country. This will enable them to manage and respond to issues affecting emergency housing requirements as quickly as possible, typically within 24 hours. Mayoral committee member for Human Settlements Carl Pophaim says residents of informal settlements such as Dunoon, Nomzamo in the Strand, Masiphumelele and Langa were affected by fires:

# The Information Regulator’s urgent application to halt the Basic Education Department’s plan to publish the 2024 matric results in newspapers will be heard on 7 January – just days before the announcement of the results. The regulator argues the practice violates the Protection of Personal Information Act and has fined the department five-million-rand for non-compliance. The department asserts that anonymous results don’t breach privacy laws. If upheld, the move could end the traditional publication of matric results, impacting access for many learners.

# Eskom says it continues to utilise the December summer break to increase planned maintenance activities. This is done to further improve the reliability of its generation fleet as many industries have shut down. Maintenance is averaging eight-thousand-megawatts. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena says the recovery plan significantly improved operational performance, particularly by reducing unplanned outages by 8.1-percent compared to the same period last year:

# And tennis: World number two Iga Swiatek doesn’t expect the World Anti-doping Agency to appeal against the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s decision not to pursue further sanctions after banning her for a month. That led to her missing three tournaments in Asia, and losing her top ranking. The 23-year-old Polish player tested positive for a heart medication in August, but ITIA accepted her explanation that it wasn’t intentional. The case is similar to that of the men’s top-ranked player, Jannik Sinner of Italy, but in his case Wada decided to lodge an appeal.

Stay tuned for more news………….