News 06:00

BULLETIN 15 January 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi says South Africa’s genocide case against Israel has marked a crucial turning point
# Eskom is implementing Stage 3 load-shedding until Thursday
# And tennis, Novak Djokovic survives a first-round scare at the Australian Open

# Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi has described the experience of representing South Africa at the International Court of Justice as humbling. The legal team that represented the country’s case against Israel’s alleged genocide in Gaza received a hero’s welcome at the OR Tambo International Airport yesterday. Ngcukaitobi, a specialist in international conflict resolution with the Pan African Bar Association of South Africa, has stressed that this was just an episode in a long struggle:

Meanwhile, Namibia has criticised Germany for supporting Israel in the genocide case at the International Court of Justice, brought by South Africa. Namibian president Hage Geingob has condemned Germany, noting its failure to learn from its own genocide against Namibian people early in the 20th century. Geingob asserts Germany is yet to fully atone for the genocide committed on Namibian soil. He adds Germany cannot morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against Genocide while supporting the holocaust and genocide in Gaza.

# Eskom started implementing stage three load-shedding from five this morning until Thursday. The power utility says there has been a slight improvement in generation performance and adequate emergency reserves for this week. It anticipates that two-thousand-721 megawatts of generating capacity will be returned to the grid by Wednesday. Eskom adds that it will continue to monitor the power system closely and communicate any significant changes if they occur.

# Political analyst Zamo Mbandlwa says the retirement announcement of ANC member of Parliament, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, is not surprising. Dlamini-Zuma has served in Parliament since 1994, working under five presidents and holding various cabinet positions, and chaired the African Union Commission. Mbandlwa suggests while the reasons and post-retirement plans are unknown, Dlamini-Zuma likely aims to leave a lasting legacy:

# The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has appealed to residents to adhere to severe weather warnings. Three more people have died in two separate incidents while trying to cross flooded low-lying bridges, as heavy rains hit three districts in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. This brings the death toll to eight since last week Friday. Meanwhile, six people remain missing. The department says the most significant damage has been reported in the eThekwini Metro, KwaDukuza, and Ndwedwe Municipality.

# Tennis: Defending champion Novak Djokovic survived a huge first-round scare to remain on target for an eleventh Australian Open title and record-breaking 25th Grand Slam. In just over four hours, the Serb defeated 18-year-old qualifier Dino Prizmic of Croatia, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, in Melbourne. American Taylor Fritz and Russia’s Andrey Rublev escaped a five-set scare in their respective matches to advance to the second round. Djokovic was full of praise for Prizmic, who is ranked 178 in the world:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-65-cents and the euro at 20-rand-43-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-75-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-244-dollars-74-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-48-dollars-40-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-9-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….