News 13:00

BULLETIN 23 May 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# SAFTU says crime must be understood as a manifestation of deeper socio-economic conditions
# The PSA calls for urgent intervention into ghost worker payments of 14-million-rand at Public Works
# And: Eskom maintains a strong system performance as unplanned outages decline

# SAFTU says crime in South Africa must be understood as a manifestation of deeper socio-economic conditions, including mass unemployment, inequality, inadequate housing, failing public services, substance abuse, and systemic social exclusion. SAFTU’s Asive Dyani says the persistence of these conditions is closely linked to the macroeconomic framework adopted by the state. She says austerity policies have systematically weakened the capacity of the public sector to respond effectively to both crime and its root causes:

# The Public Servants Association is calling on the minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, to activate immediate salary freezes for all unverified persons flagged by the system, pending physical and biometric validation. During the department budget speech, the Minster revealed that 14-million-rand in taxpayers’ money are being systematically channelled to ghost workers in the department. The association’s spokesperson, Claude Naicker, says it is utterly unacceptable that public funds are being weaponised to enrich syndicates and corrupt people:

# Gauteng MEC for Education, Lebogang Maile has welcomed the Special Investigating Unit’s settlement agreements with various companies and individuals who had benefitted from the department’s  irregular 431-million-rand contracts. Spokesperson Onwabile Lubhelwana says this was for the decontamination, disinfection, and sanitisation of schools during the Covid-19 pandemic between March and December 2020. He says the department is thrilled that progress is being made in recouping the money which had been paid to these companies:

# Eskom continues to demonstrate sustained improvement in power system performance and maintaining grid stability amid higher winter demand, particularly during the morning and evening peak periods. The power utility spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena says Eskom recently reached 365 consecutive days without load-shedding, the first full year without power interruptions since September 2018. She says this is reflecting a marked recovery in system reliability:

# The City of Cape Town will open a new public participation process on its 2026/2027 budget amendments. This follows a ruling by the High Court in the Western Cape which changed how municipalities can set tariffs. The city says the changes will likely result in higher fixed water and sanitation charges for lower- and middle-income households, while higher-value properties may pay less. To cushion the impact, the city proposes increasing the rate-free property threshold and expanding indigent relief.

# And tennis: World number one Aryna Sabalenka cut short her French Open news conference as part of a 15-minute limit on media duties in protest at the prize money on offer. Players believe a greater share of the revenue generated by the Grand Slam tournaments should be allocated in prize money. The 15-minute limit is meant to symbolise the 15-percent of revenue the French Open currently offers. Several other leading players, including men’s world number one Jannik Sinner and four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek, also followed the directive on Friday.

Stay tuned for more news………….