News 12:00

BULLETIN 22 September 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says SA will be championing multilateralism at the UN General Assembly
# Eskom is aiming to eliminate load reduction in two years
# And Athletics: Wayde van Niekerk is full of praise for SA’s relay team

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week is taking place at a time when the global rules-based system is profoundly fragile. The session will be held under the theme, Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights. Speaking to the SABC just after landing in New York, Ramaphosa said they will be championing robust multilateralism, peaceful resolution of conflicts, and the unwavering protection of human rights:

# Eskom says it is committed to reducing load reduction by 15-to-20-percent by March 2026 and eliminating it within two years. The power utility is implementing load reduction in parts of Gauteng this week. Areas experiencing morning load reduction include Naledi, Dobsonville, Mabopane, Winterveldt and Jabulani. Evening load reduction impacts regions including Kagiso, Meadowlands, Cosmo City, Riverside, and Tsakane. Eskom spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says consumers can expect approximately five to six hours of outages:

# The Department of Correctional Services is observing Corrections Week to promote understanding of South Africa’s correctional service system. The public education campaign will focus on rehabilitation and not just punishment, as well as offender reintegration, community corrections, and skills development. The department calls on the public support safer communities and restorative justice that upholds dignity and rehabilitation of offenders.

# Germany reaffirmed its position that it would not recognise a Palestinian state until the Israelis and Palestinians negotiate a two-state solution. The comments came ahead of the United Nations general assembly, where France is expected to become the latest country to recognise a Palestinian state, following Australia, Britain, Canada, and Portugal, who did so on Sunday. The recognition is aimed at piling pressure on Israel over its campaign in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands, devastated much of the enclave and drawn vocal rebukes from Israel’s allies.

# Athletics: Wayde van Niekerk, who was brought in for the SA 4×400 metre relay team, was full of praise for his teammates at the World Athletics championships, where they took the bronze. Team SA Lyth Pillay, Zakithi Nene, Udemy Okon, and Van Niekerk, ended third after Botswana and the United States. Van Niekerk said that, after a long medal drought, it was a privilege to be part of the team, and he was grateful to his teammates for their motivation.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-32-cents and the euro at 20-rand-38-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-38-cents and Bitcoin trades at 112-thousand-621-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-718-dollars-83-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-39-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….