News 07:00

BULLETIN 14 February 7 am

Good morning/. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa urgently appeals to the International Court of Justice about the Rafah offensive
# The Palestine Solidarity Campaign is calling on the South African  government to act against Israel
# And, the minister of Electricity says the sustainability of Eskom’s generation division is critical

# South Africa says Israel’s offensive in Rafah poses a serious and irreparable breach of the Genocide Convention. The government has lodged an urgent petition to the International Court of Justice to invoke provisional measures to prevent the imminent breach of Palestinians’ rights. Concerns have heightened over Israel’s military operations in the last refuge for Gaza’s surviving population. Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya urges swift action to prevent further harm amidst a rising death toll in Gaza:

Meanwhile, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign says Israel’s bombardment of Rafah directly contravenes the orders handed down by the International Court of Justice, namely, that the country must take all measures to prevent acts of genocide. More than 100 people including children have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in Rafah. The PSC says in light of Israel’s defiance of the ICJ orders, it is calling on the South African government to urgently lead a concerted boycotts, sanctions, and divestments campaign against Israel.

# Electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, says whilst the unbundling of Eskom continues, the sustainability of the generation division is critical to ensure the power utility remains the backbone of the country’s energy supply capability. Eskom is being unbundled into three entities, generation, transmission, and distribution. Ramokgopa says his ministry will establish an Independent Transmission Project Office, to fast-track procurement, planning, and financing for upgrading, modernising, and expanding transmission infrastructure. He says this intervention will attract up to 400-billion-rand in transmission infrastructure investments over the next ten years.

# The High Court in Johannesburg ordered a consulting firm to repay 52-million-rand to the Gauteng government after it couldn’t provide proof of its object to create 75-thousand youth jobs over three years. Amahlo Consulting Services could only provide evidence of 142 students attending a course, despite receiving 59.7-million-rand. It was also found the consultancy’s offices appear deserted, raising questions about its operations. The court found it lacked tender process adherence, leading to an unlawful agreement.

# For the first time since its formation the Ingonyama Trust Board will be chaired by its sole trustee, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini. This comes after he fired the board’s chairperson, Thanduyise Mzimela, barely nine months after he was appointed. The king’s traditional prime minister, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, says the king will chair the board to bring stability to the trust and to enhance the role of amakhosi in it. The Trust is responsible for 2.8-million hectares of land in the former homeland of KwaZulu-Natal.

# Cricket: The Proteas Women shift their focus to their one-off Test against Australia at the WACA in Perth from tomorrow following a closely contested white-ball leg Down Under. It will be South Africa’s second four-day match since 2014 and their first-ever Test against Australia. Proteas all-rounder Nadine de Klerk says it is going to be a great challenge:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-11-cents and the euro at 20-rand-47-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-8-cents and Bitcoin trades at 49-thousand-462-dollars-80-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-991-dollars-90-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-34-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….