News 06:00

BULLETIN 13 March 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Deputy president Mashatile says the government has no regrets in approaching the ICJ over Israel
# Eskom implements Stage 2 and 3 load-shedding until further notice
# And another Boeing is involved in a scary incident

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile says the government has no regrets about becoming the first country to file a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice. In January, the ICJ granted South Africa’s request for provisional measures to halt a possible genocide in Gaza, but Israel continued its assault. Last week the country urgently asked the court to enforce additional emergency measures against Israel to prevent a famine in the Gaza Strip. Answering questions in the National Council of Provinces, Mashatile says South Africa does not condone genocide.

# Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says he is confident that his ministry will not be needed come the end of the year, as a result of anticipated improvement in electricity supply in the next few months. He was appointed last year to help resolve the country’s 15-year power crisis. Ramokgopa told an infrastructure conference organised by Ninety One in Johannesburg, of the urgent need for the building of transmission lines, to unlock thousands of megawatts for the grid from new generation capacity:

Meanwhile, Eskom has announced stage 2 load-shedding during the day from five in the morning until four in the afternoon, and stage 3 load-shedding from then until five the next morning. This pattern will continue until further notice. This decision comes after the loss of three generating units and a delay in returning three others to service. The utility says its power station managers are working diligently to recover additional generating capacity. Eskom says updates will be provided if significant changes occur.

# Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink has issued a stern warning, stating illegal electricity connections are a crime, and offenders will be prosecuted. This comes after a successful #TshwaneYaTima operation yesterday, targeting businesses and residential areas in the suburbs owing the city millions. One guest house in Hatfield owes the city 970-thousand-rand and was found to have an illegal connection. Brink warned all debtors, including businesses and residents, will be pursued, urging them to settle their municipal accounts to avoid disconnection:

# New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission plans to seize the cockpit voice recorder of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner from LATAM Airlines after over 50 people were injured in an incident on Monday. The plane plunged during a flight between Australia and New Zealand when the pilots reportedly lost control, but it eventually landed safely. This is the latest incident surrounding the American manufacturer after part of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max’s door blew off in January just after take-off in the United States.

# Rugby: Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus finalised his new management team with the appointment of former Munster player Paddy Sullivan as performance analyst. He gets a permanent position after being a consultant for South Africa during last year’s successful World Cup in France. Sullivan joins two other new members – former All Blacks flyhalf Tony Brown as attacking coach, and former Irish Test player Jerry Flannery as defence coach. Nienaber says Brown and Flannery’s appointment should help the Boks stay ahead of their rivals.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-68-cents and the euro at 20-rand-41-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-91-cents and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-868-dollar-33-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-158-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-35-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….