News 18:00

BULLETIN 14 January 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# MANCOSA says South Africa’s education system is under growing pressure
# The African Transformation Movement welcomes the EU delisting, and urges stronger action on financial crime
# And, the Photovoltaic Association raises the alarm over Eskom’s unbundling plan

# The Management College of Southern Africa says South Africa’s education system is under severe strain due to unequal access to technology and oversubscribed public universities. Spokesperson Precious Buthelezi says students enter tertiary institutions with vastly different skill levels, complicating teaching and learning. She says innovative, inclusive, and digitally driven institutions are key to bridging gaps, expanding access, and preparing graduates for the modern economy:

# The African Transformation Movement has welcomed the European Union’s decision to remove South Africa from its high-risk jurisdictions list, praising National Treasury’s efforts. However, the party says that serious challenges including weaknesses in combating financial crime remain. Spokesperson Zama Ntshona raised concern over unregistered SIM cards allegedly linked to illicit money flows. He calls for tighter regulation, and decisive government action to protect the economy and national security:

# The South African Photovoltaic Industry Association has raised concerns about Eskom’s revised unbundling plan, warning it could undermine investment in transmission infrastructure. The association says keeping grid assets within Eskom while creating a separate transmission operator without assets will limit the entity’s ability to raise capital and fair access. CEO Rethabile Melamu warns this could delay critical grid expansion and increase future load-shedding risks.

# The head of Uganda’s electoral body says he has received threats warning him against declaring certain presidential candidates the winners in tomorrow’s election. Simon Byabakama was responding to a widely shared video which shows a presidential assistant saying the electoral commission would never declare opposition candidate Bobi Wine as president, even if he were to win.  President Yoweri Museveni has ruled the country for nearly four decades and is seeking a seventh term at the age of 81. Wine, a 43-year-old pop star turned politician, is Museveni’s main challenger.

# Tennis: Austrian Sebastian Ofner’s bid to qualify for the Australian Open ended in despair minutes after he celebrated victory a little bit too early. He led American Nishesh Basavareddy 7-1 in the third set tie-break, forgetting the final set’s tie-break goes to 10 points. After Ofner ran to the net to thank his opponent, the umpire pointed out his mistake, and he had to go back and resume the match. Basavareddy then overtook him to win the tie-break 13-11 and clinch the match.  

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-38-cents and the euro at 19-rand-10-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-4-cents and Bitcoin trades at 95-thousand-698-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-630-dollars-69-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-69-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….