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BULLETIN 2 November 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Eskom achieves a significant milestone in operational efficiency
# ActionSA welcomes the establishment of a parliamentary oversight committee on the bloated Presidency
# And, tennis: Zverev downs Tsitsipas in Paris, and Rune keeps his ATP Finals bid alive

# Eskom says it has achieved a significant milestone in operational efficiency, moving closer to its goal of a 70-percent energy availability factor by the end of March 2025. Eskom spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says this achievement is marked by a reduction in unplanned outages, which are measured by the unplanned capacity loss factor and other capacity loss factors to seven-thousand-299-megawatts:

# ActionSA has welcomed the establishment of an oversight committee on the Presidency, which in the words of the party in recent years has bloated into a Super Presidency. ActionSA’s Athol Trollip says the unchecked expansion of powers within the Presidency undermines the very mandate of Parliament, as it allows the president to run a near-separate branch of government that operates largely beyond Parliamentary oversight:

# Lower inflation and fuel prices helped passenger car sales rise 14.5-percent compared to October last year, and have their best month in five years. The vehicle industry body Naamsa says 34-thousand-228 passenger cars were sold last month, but the sale of light commercials was still down. Sales of bakkies and minibuses were 12.7-percent lower than October 2023. Sales of medium and heavy trucks dropped 10.1-percent and 7.1-percent respectively.

# A Kenyan high court has authorised the swearing-in of Kithure Kindiki as the new Deputy President, despite ongoing legal challenges regarding the impeachment of former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua. The court deemed that suspending Kindiki’s appointment would create a political vacuum. Gachagua was removed on 17 October over charges of corruption and inciting ethnic divisions. He is currently appealing the impeachment, claiming the process was unfair and politically motivated.

# And, tennis: Alexander Zverev beat rival Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters yesterday, while Holger Rune edged Alex de Minaur to keep alive his hopes of reaching the ATP Tour Finals from 10 to 17 November in Turin. Zverev’s 7-5, 6-4 win over Tsitsipas kept him in the running to claim his first title in Paris after losing to Daniil Medvedev in the 2020 championship match. Zverev is the highest-ranked player left in the draw and will face 2022 champion Rune in today’s semifinal.

Stay tuned for more news………….