News 06:00

BULLETIN 8 January 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Load-shedding has been suspended until further notice
# The SACP says Zuma is misleading the nation
# And, Tennis: Rafa Nadal withdraws from the Australian Open with a torn muscle

# Power utility Eskom said on Sunday load-shedding has been suspended until further notice due to a sustained improved generating capacity and sufficient emergency reserves. Earlier on Sunday, the utility had also cited lower-than-expected demand for its decision to extend the suspension of load-shedding until Monday morning.

# The South African Communist Party general secretary, Solly Mapaila says former president Jacob Zuma is misleading the nation, after Zuma urged South Africans to vote for the newly-formed party, uMkhonto weSizwe. Mapaila addressed alliance members at the 29th commemoration of the death of SACP Chairperson, Joe Slovo at the Avalon Cemetery in Soweto. He says the new MK Party is part of the mushrooming narrow, electoral groupings masquerading as the saviours while in fact, they are pushing self-serving agendas, offering no alternative to the exploitative capitalist system:

Meanwhile, the neparty says it will not tolerate ambitious members jostling for leadership positions. At a rally in Mkhondo, Mpumalanga the former president warned he will not hesitate to deal with problematic members himself. Zuma, whose face will be on the ballot, and the interim leadership made it clear that the MK’s leadership would only be chosen after the elections. The interim leaders cautioned those joining from the ANC that they would be ordinary members and work their way up. Those who had appointed themselves as provincial leaders were told to calm down.

# ActionSA in Gauteng has already written to the provincial police commissioner, Elias Mawela to intervene regarding delaying tactics or protection of criminals by members of the police, instead of protecting the victims of crime in the province. This is after Patricia Khoza was charged with assault last year by police at Primrose Police Station in Germiston, Ekurhuleni, after assisting in getting an undocumented foreign national, Sylvester Ezuko Uchekpu, arrested for hijacking a building. ActionSA’s Funzi Ngobeni says, Uchekpu ended up being arrested, but was released on 500-rand bail on Friday:

# France is set to build eight new nuclear plants on top of six already announced by President Emmanuel Macron in early 2022. The country’s Energy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said more reactors are needed to hit carbon reduction targets. A draft law set to be presented soon, recognises the need for more than the six plants initially planned. According to Climate Watch, France is on the lower end of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, at around 4.7 tonnes per capita in 2020. The country has 57 nuclear reactors which required long and costly repairs in recent years.

# Tennis: Twenty-two-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Australian Open. The Spaniard’s comeback has been placed on hold following a micro muscle tear he sustained in Brisbane, during his quarter-final match against Australian Jordan Thompson. Nadal announced on social media on Sunday that an MRI scan he underwent in Melbourne revealed the muscle tear and that he would return home to Spain. The injury comes barely a week after he made his comeback from a year-long absence. He underwent hip surgery after an injury at the 2023 Australian Open.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-64-cents and the euro at 20-rand-42-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-73-cents and Bitcoin trades at 43-thousand-786-dollars-77-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-45-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-63-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….