News 09:00

BULLETIN 26 October 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Malaysia and South Africa will strengthen their trade relations
# Eskom steps up its plans to end load-reduction
# And Qhawekazi Mazaleni is crowned as Miss South Africa 2025

# President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim agreed to strengthen trade relationships. Ramaphosa is on a three-state visit to Asia. Both leaders encouraged continued collaboration between relevant ministries and agencies. Ramphosa added he would welcome private sector participation in areas related to rail transport, logistics, and infrastructure development:

# The MK Party has condemned Gauteng acting Judge President, Judge Aubrey Ledwaba’s reported refusal to take special leave, as directed by Chief Justice Mandisa Maya. This follows the revelations by senior police officials at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry alleging that Ledwaba may have accepted a bribe of 2.5-million-rand to influence the outcome of a court case against alleged crime kingpin Katiso “KT” Molefe. MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela says they are calling upon Judge Ledwaba to comply immediately:

#  Eskom is stepping up efforts to eliminate load-reduction by 2027 as South Africa’s electricity system stabilises. Eskom spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena says generation performance has improved significantly, with the energy availability factor having reached 70-percent and surpassing this level more than 22 times since August this year. She says this reflects the success of Eskom’s generation recovery plan and improved maintenance practices:

# The Soil of Africa Civic Movement says it demands a comprehensive forensic investigation into the City of Tshwane’s water tanker operations, focusing on full audit of all tanker contracts, payments, and suppliers since 2022. The movement’s chairperson, Bongani Ramontja says according to the city, 441.1-million-rand of its expenditure in 2024/2025 financial year was verified, linked to specific maintenance shutdowns and emergency operations. He says however, the remaining 336-million-rand cannot be accounted for and needs to be explained:

# Soccer: Orlando Pirates were dramatically eliminated from the CAF Champions League yesterday after losing a penalty shootout to DR Congo’s St Éloi Lupopo. The Buccaneers staged a heroic comeback, winning the second leg 3-0 at Orlando Stadium with goals from Nemtajela, Mbuthuma, and Appollis to level the aggregate score at 3-3. However, after a tense shootout, Lupopo held their nerve, winning 5-4 to advance to the group stage, leaving Pirates devastated despite their valiant effort.

# And finally: Qhaweki Mazaleni has been crowned Miss South Africa at the 67th pageant finale 2025 at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria last night. The 26-year-old from the Eastern Cape received the crown from outgoing titleholder Mia Le Roux. Mazeleni was up against nine other contestants for the title after one contestant withdrew from the pageant. The first runner-up is Luyanda Zuma, and the second runner-up up Karabo Mareka. Mazaleni won a prize package valued at over there-million-rand, including a Mercedes-Benz and a penthouse apartment.

Stay tuned for more news………….