News 08:00

BULLETIN 31 August 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# SALGA is worried about Eskom’s 54-billion-rand tariff settlement
# The Post Office suspends outbound parcels to the US
# And rugby: The latest Currie Cup news

# The South African Local Government Association has expressed concern over the NERSA-Eskom settlement, which will see electricity tariffs rise by 8.76-percent in 2026/27 and 8.83-percent in 2027/28, costing consumers an additional 54-billion-rand. SALGA warns these increases deepen household poverty, strain municipal finances, and risk service delivery. In a statement, Salga President Bheke Stofile called for urgent electricity sector reforms, government support for vulnerable households, and a sustainable, transparent cost-recovery framework.

Meanwhile, South Africa has experienced 105 consecutive days without load-shedding with the Energy Availability Factor ranging between 64-percent and 75-percent. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokoena says this milestone builds on 352 load-shedding-free days in 2025. The utility attributes this to sustained improvements in its generation fleet, lower unplanned outages, and stable grid performance. She emphasised that Eskom met over 97-percent of winter demand and plans to return four-thousand-800-megawatts to service next week:

# The South African Post Office has suspended all outbound parcel services to the United States with immediate effect. This follows new US regulations removing the 14-thousand-rand duty-free allowance. Parcels at the Germiston international mail centre that don’t comply will be returned to senders. The suspension will remain until a new parcel management system is in place. However, documents, letters, and exempt categories, including military mail, will still be processed. South Africa joins 25 postal services worldwide in the suspension.

# A federal judge has blocked a Trump administration effort to speed deportations of migrants detained in the interior of the United States, slamming it as a violation of due process. Judge Jia Cobb said, unlike migrants detained at or near the border, the administration is now targeting people who have long since entered the country. Cobb added have a weighty liberty interest in remaining in America and must be afforded due process under the Fifth Amendment. The government, meanwhile, urged the court to let the policy take effect, arguing that it is a lawful exercise of executive authority.

# And finally, Currie Cup rugby news:

The Lions ended the Bulls’ run in the Currie Cup and gave themselves a boost to move into the top four of the competition with a one-sided 44-5 victory. The Lions went into the break with a comfortable 20-5 lead, with the Bulls’ only points of the game a try by Jaco van der Walt.  The Lions added another 24 points to their final score in the second half with tries from skipper PJ Botha, Richard Kriel, Sam Francis, and Hassiem Pead to move to third on the log.  

And a 42-metre penalty six minutes after the hooter enabled the Sharks to edge out the Boland Kavaliers 33-31 in a thrilling Currie Cup match in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday evening. The Sharks led for most of the game, but the Bolanders fought back to take a lead with just over three minutes remaining. Then came the penalty by Siya Masuku that took the Sharks to victory. Boland picked up two bonus points, which will see them finish the weekend in second position on the log, two behind leaders Griquas, with the Sharks second last on the log.

Stay tuned for more news………….