News 11:00

BULLETIN 11 January, 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cyril Ramaphosa calls for industrialisation to tackle unemployment 
# Eskom meeting electricity demand as it continues to save on diesel spending
# And, Gael Monfils becomes the oldest male tennis player to win a tour-level title in 48 years

# ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa says there is an urgent need to transform and build an inclusive economy that will result in increased industrialisation, innovation and job creation. He was speaking at the party’s 113th-anniversary gala dinner in Cape Town on Friday evening. Ramaphosa has also called on the private sector to align technical and vocational training with employment opportunities, fostering inclusive growth and reducing poverty:

# Eskom says it has saved 16.28-billion-rand in diesel spending, as it has gone 289 consecutive days without implementing load-shedding since 26 March last year. This figure is about 63.4-percent less than the 25.67-billion-rand spent during the same period last year. Eskom says to meet demand, reliance has been placed on a higher Open-Cycle Gas Turbine load factor for the period under review, which has since decreased. It adds that its Energy Availability Factor improved slightly from an average of 54.65-percent to 56.97-percent over the past week.

# A total of eight people including two pedestrians died in three separate accidents in the Eastern Cape on Friday night. The worst of those occurred on the N2 near Phakade where six people died in a head-on collision involving a bakkie and a truck. The bakkie had 12 people on board. Two pedestrians were knocked over by vehicles one on the N2 near Dans Lodge just outside Mthatha and in the East London CBD. Provincial Transport’s spokesperson, Unathi Binqose, says cases of culpable homicide have been opened:

# The death toll in Gaza during the first nine months of the Israel-Hamas war could be about 40-percent higher than numbers recorded by the Palestinian territory’s health ministry. This is according to research published in The Lancet medical journal. The UK-led research estimates a death toll between 55-thousand-298-to-78-thousand-525 people, compared to 37-thousand-877 reported by Palestine. About 59.1-percent of the deaths were women, children and people over the age of 65. The Israeli embassy in the UK says any information that derives from Gaza cannot be trusted and served Hamas.

# And tennis: Frenchman Gael Monfils has made history by becoming the oldest tour-level champion since Australian legend Ken Rosewell in 1977. The 38-year-old defeated Zizou Bergs of Belgium, 6-3, 6-4, to win the ASB Classic in Auckland. This is his 13th tour-level title and first since the 2023 Nordic Open in Stockholm. Monfils says despite nearing retirement, he still feels good about his game:

Stay tuned for more news………….