News 06:00
BULLETIN 29 November 6 am
Good morning. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# Stages 5 and 6 load-shedding will be implemented until Saturday
# Minister Mantashe says the government will continue investing in improving mine safety
# And, huge relief as 41 Indian workers are rescued from a collapsed tunnel after 17 days
# Eskom says stage five load-shedding was implemented at five this morning until eight in the evening. Thereafter, stage six will be enforced until five tomorrow morning. Eskom’s spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says the implementation of higher stages of load-shedding is due to insufficient generation capacity and the need to further replenish emergency reserves:
# Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe says government will continue investing in improving mine health and safety so that people must go to work and come back alive. This comes after eleven mineworkers died in an accident at a shaft at the Impala Platinum mine operation in Rustenburg in the North West. It is understood that a lift transporting workers to the surface from underground began descending rapidly, leaving over 70 people injured. Mantashe says they have launched an investigation into this tragedy:
# Parliament has suspended deputy minister of Small Business Development Dipuo Peters for a parliamentary term because she breached the ethics code for members. This follows after the joint committee on Ethics and Members’ Interest found her guilty of three transgressions while she was minister of Transport. Parliament also decided to dock nine days’ salary of the deputy president of the EFF, Floyd Shivambu, for failing to declare payments totalling 180-thousand-rand from VBS Mutual Bank in 2017.
# Gauteng Finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo says they will table a proposal to national government by the 15th of next month, outlining plans to pay off the province’s portion of the e-tolls debt. He delivered the province’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement yesterday. The MEC admits that it is a risk to Gauteng’s fiscus in resolving the challenges related to raising revenue to settle the province’s 12.9-billion-rand, or 30-percent, of the e-tolls debt. Mamabolo says the gantries should be switched off and repurposed for security, crime prevention, and road-related law enforcement services.
# All 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in India have been rescued. The actual rescue took just over an hour after teams led by so-called rat miners finally succeeded in reaching the group by drilling through rocks and debris. The workers were pulled out on wheeled stretchers through a 90-centimeter-wide pipe. They were provided with food, water, light, oxygen, and medicines through narrow steel pipes during their ordeal, but a series of problems prevented rescuers from reaching them until yesterday.
# Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture Zizi Kodwa has confirmed the amendment of sporting code legislation in accordance with recommendations from the World Anti-Doping Authority. This follows WADA’s statement in September that South Africa’s existing legislation was not compliant with the world anti-doping code. The African Institute for Drug-Free Sport Amendment Bill has now undergone finalisation through the South African constitutional process. Kodwa also reaffirms South Africa’s commitment to hosting the WADA African regional office in Cape Town:
# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-52-cents and the euro at 20-rand-41-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-58-cents and Bitcoin trades at 38-thousand-26-dollars-65-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-49-dollars-53-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-71-cents a barrel.
Stay tuned for more news………….