News 09:00

BULLETIN 9 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says the withdrawal of the SANDF from the DRC will be completed by the end of the year
# Nersa approves Eskom’s revenue adjustment following the 54.7-billion-rand error
# And, the parliamentary ad hoc committee will meet today to discuss witness issues

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa will work jointly with the United Nations to finalise the timelines and other modalities for the withdrawal of the country’s troops from the UN peacekeeping mission in the conflict-ridden Democratic Republic of the Congo. This ends a 27-year deployment. The South African National Defence Force has over 700 soldiers deployed to the DRC as part of the UN Stabilisation Mission in the DRC, MONUSCO. The Presidency says the withdrawal of the troops will be completed before the end of this year.

# The National Energy Regulator of South Africa has approved 54.734-billion-rand in additional allowable revenue for Eskom, to correct a regulatory asset base error. The regulator initially spotted a mistake in its sixth multi-year price determination. The power utility claimed the calculation had led to a shortfall of 107-billion-rand in its allowable revenue, but agreed to accept Nersa’s offer of 54-billion-rand after negotiations. Nersa’s spokesperson, Charles Hlebela, says the re-determination was conducted using the approved MYPD4 Methodology:

# Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee is set to meet today to discuss housekeeping matters, including the scheduling of witnesses and correspondence from National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza. This comes as she denied the committee’s request for subpoenas for forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan and North West businessman Brown Mogotsi. Both witnesses have refused to testify in person, citing security concerns they say Parliament has not addressed. The committee is operating within a tight timeframe, after being granted an extension until 20 February to finalise its work.

# The Western Cape government has set aside 100-million-rand to procure enough vaccine doses to protect livestock amid the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. The province has implemented 24/7 border controls and comprehensive measures following a confirmed outbreak in the Wellington area. The Western Cape is reportedly not among those earmarked to receive the first batch of 12-thousand-900 locally produced FMD vaccines. Premier Alan Winde says a 21-point plan is being urgently implemented to combat the disease:

# American football: The Seattle Seahawks are the Super Bowl champions for the second time after securing a convincing 29-13 victory against the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The victory comes eleven years after they lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl, and 12-years after they claimed their first NFL title with an overwhelming victory over the Denver Broncos. Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold says winning the Super Bowl is an unbelievable feeling:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-99-cents and the euro at 18-rand-91-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-75-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-153-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-17-dollars-35-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-8-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….