News 08:00

BULLETIN 18 May 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA demands a parliamentary inquiry into Eskom’s R21-billion diesel contracts
# Lebogang Maile says the court ruling on power cuts strengthens access to education
# And, the WHO declares the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a public emergency

# The DA is demanding an immediate Parliamentary Inquiry into Eskom’s 21-billion-rand diesel procurement saga. An investigation has identified irregularities and non-adherence to processes linked to contracts for diesel supply to Eskom’s Open Cycle Gas Turbine power stations. Among the questionable beneficiaries is Severino Industries, which was awarded a four-billion-rand allocation despite being led by a 24-year-old with no prior experience in the energy sector. The DA says it will not allow Eskom to treat the National Treasury as a private ATM for “emergency” shell companies.

# Deputy minister of Electricity and Energy, Samantha Graham-Maré, has introduced the Energy Savings Performance Contracting model to 61 municipalities. This seeks to sustain and scale up energy efficiency measures in municipalities. The Energy Efficiency Demand Side Management grant for municipalities for the 2026/2027 financial year has increased to 100-million-rand. Graham-Maré says the allocated grant to further support municipalities in accelerating the adoption of energy-efficient technologies, reducing electricity consumption, and improving energy efficiency:

# Gauteng Education MEC, Lebogang Maile, says he has instructed the City of Tshwane to comply with the Pretoria High Court ruling, ordering the restoration of electricity to schools disconnected over unpaid property rates. The ruling also prohibited any further disconnections. Tshwane is owed 51.7-million-rand by schools. Maile says this court ruling is important as education services are not a privilege that is extended based on financial ability:

# The World Health Organisation has declared that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. The outbreak in the DRC’s eastern Ituri province has seen around 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths. In Uganda, two confirmed cases, including one death, have been reported in the capital Kampala. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that there are currently significant uncertainties about the true number of infected people and the geographic spread of the outbreak.

# Golf: England’s Aaron Rai won the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania, his maiden major title. The world number 44 carded a five-under 65 to finish nine under overall, three shots clear of Spain’s two-time major champion Jon Rahm and American Alex Smalley, who finished joint second. Rai, who is the first English champion at the PGA Championship in 107 years, says he has proven a lot of things to himself by winning:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-74-cents and the euro at 19-rand-45-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-28-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 76-thousand-919-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-535-dollars-45-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 107-dollars-82-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….