News 07:00

BULLETIN 26 February 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Eskom has suspended load-shedding
# AfriForum warns of privacy invasion in Johannesburg
# And motorsport: The MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin is ruled out indefinitely

# Eskom has suspended load-shedding following the successful recovery of generation capacity and significant progress in replenishing emergency reserves. After reaching stage six on Sunday morning, the level of load-shedding was reduced to stage two on Tuesday morning, following the recovery of several generation units at power stations that tripped over the weekend. Eskom’s spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says the power system is stable:

# The DA has reported minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, to president Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing her of failing to establish the National Council against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. The DA’s Lisa Schickerling says despite rising GBV crimes, the council remains inactive. She demands that Chikunga should appear before Parliament for her inaction, and for the immediate appointment of the council:

# AfriForum is opposing a new Johannesburg by-law that gives the metro access to private security footage. They argue private CCTV networks, drones, and body cameras belong to property owners and the government has no legal right to take control. AfriForum’s Jacques Broodryk plans to challenge the by-law legally and urges businesses and property owners to oppose it:

# The Special Tribunal has ordered 16 service providers to pay back around 21-million-rand in profits, linked to alleged irregularly awarded personal protective equipment contracts. The contracts were awarded by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. A probe by the Special Investigating Unit found that all service providers charged rates that exceeded the pricing guidelines set by the National Treasury. The SIU says any criminal conduct will be referred for prosecution.

# French President Emmanuel Macron will brief fellow EU leaders today on his talks with US President Donald Trump, ahead of an emergency summit on European support for Ukraine. Antonio Costa, who heads the European Council representing the bloc’s 27 member states, announced on X he had convened a videoconference with Macron to prepare for the 6 March leaders’ talks. Europe has scrambled for a unified response since Trump two weeks ago declared his readiness to negotiate with Russia, and without European involvement, on ending the three-year-old Ukraine war.

# Motorsport: MotoGP world champion, Jorge Martin, has been ruled out for an indefinite period after undergoing surgery on Tuesday, for fractures to his left hand. The Spaniard injured his hand during a training session in Spain on Monday. The 27-year-old had undergone surgery earlier this month, after breaking his right hand and foot in a crash in Malaysia. Martin’s new team, Aprilia, says the surgery was a success and the recovery time will be assessed in the coming days.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-42-cents and the euro at 19-rand-37-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-33-cents and Bitcoin trades at 88-thousand-284-dollar-80-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-926-dollars-80-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-70-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….