News 06:00

BULLETIN 9 February 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says the end of load-shedding is within reach
# Eskom has escalated load-shedding to stage four until further notice
# And, five US Marines were killed when their helicopter crashed in California

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says government is confident that the worst is behind South Africans and that the end of load-shedding is within reach. He delivered the sixth administration’s last State of the Nation address in Cape Town yesterday evening. He says government has set out a clear plan to end load-shedding, which they have been implementing with a single-minded focus through the National Energy Crisis Committee. He adds that to ensure that there is never another crisis like this, they are reforming the energy sector:

Meanwhile, the president says over the past five years government has worked to revive the economy from a decade of stagnation and protect it from both domestic and global shocks. Ramaphosa says they have raised 1.5-trillion-rand in new investment commitments through five South Africa Investment Conferences, of which over 500-billion-rand has already flowed into the economy:

# Eskom has escalated load-shedding to stage four until further notice. The power utility has attributed this to two additional generating units being taken out of service for repairs, and the need to replenish the pumped storage dams, which are required to meet the morning and evening peak loads. Eskom says station managers are continuing to work diligently to ensure that the two-thousand-473 megawatts of generating capacity are returned to service by Monday as planned.

# Gauteng Education MEC, Matome Chiloane, is calling on law enforcement agencies to ensure justice prevails, following the death of a Grade eight learner. The boy from Oakdale Secondary School in Ennerdale died on Wednesday after he was allegedly stabbed outside the school premises. The department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, says a Grade ten boy learner, who was also involved in the stabbing incident, is currently in hospital:

# Five US Marines were killed when their helicopter crashed in California during a training flight. The US Marines Corps says the accident happened during a fierce winter storm, and the helicopter came down in a remote area near San Diego. It departed from the Creech Air Force Base in Nevada en route to Miramar and was reported overdue eight hours later. The soldiers’ bodies were found during a search and rescue operation. An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

# Rugby: France’s head coach, Fabien Galthie, only made two changes to his team that lost to Ireland in the first round of this year’s Six Nations. France takes on Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh tomorrow. Louis Bielle-Biarrey will start in the number 11 jersey with Yoram Moefana dropping to the bench, while Cameron Woki replaces Paul Willemse at lock. South African-born Willemse will miss two games after receiving a red card for a high tackle on Irish prop Andrew Porter.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-95-cents and the euro at 20-rand-43-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-92-cents and Bitcoin trades at 45-thousand-333-dollars-74-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-34-dollars a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-63-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….