News 09:00

BULLETIN 18 August 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# BLSA says municipal debt is the real threat for Eskom
# Parliament says minister Manamela must let the board of the student aid scheme do its work
# And, Britain says it stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine

# Business Leadership South Africa CEO, Busisiwe Mavuso, has criticised the Eskom board’s resistance to the unbundling of transmission assets, accusing it of weaponising lender complexity to resist restructuring. Eskom chairperson Mteto Nyati has maintained that the power utility’s financial concerns needed to be dealt with first to enable the creation of an independent transmission system operator. The National Union of Mineworkers has approached the court to challenge Eskom’s restructuring. Mavuso says the real threat to Eskom is the 114-billion-rand in municipal arrears, not unbundling.

# Parliament’s Select Committee on Education, Sciences and Creative Industries has called on Minister of Higher Education, Buti Manamela, to speedily allow the National Student Financial Aid Scheme board to start with its duties. Last week, the High Court in Pretoria suspended the appointment of professor Hlengani Mathebula as NSFAS administrator and ordered the reinstatement of the remaining board members. The minister had argued that the board was no longer properly constituted. Committee chairperson Makhi Feni says the appointment of the administrator was chaotic from the beginning:

# The Tshwane Metro Police Department says it maintains a zero-tolerance approach towards criminality and misconduct within its ranks. This follows the arrest of one of its constables, Peter Nonyane, in connection with a 1.75-million-rand fraud and money-laundering scheme involving funds belonging to a deceased estate. TMPD spokesperson Isaac Mahamba says this case places renewed focus on the conduct of law enforcement officials and the measures taken by authorities when members are accused of criminal activity:

# The UK says it stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and is committed to providing the equipment Kyiv needs to defend itself against Russian president Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion. Russia’s Embassy to the UK accused Britain of deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis. This follows confirmation that British-made drones had been used in strikes by Kyiv on targets in Russia. The UK Ministry of Defence says Moscow should be in no doubt about its resolve to stand against Russian aggression, in Ukraine and against its allies.

# Tennis: Top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany is through to the fourth round at the Cincinnati Open after overcoming Frenchman Terence Atmane, 7-6, 7-6. Nineteen-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar defeated Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, 6-2, 6-1, joining Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton as the only teenagers to reach the round of 16 in Cincinnati this decade. In the women’s draw, defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland recovered from a set down to defeat Greek Maria Sakkari, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, and advanced to the fourth round. Second-seeded Kazakh Elena Rybakina beat Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-4, 7-6.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-25-cents and the euro at 18-rand-80-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-99-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-66-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-392-dollars-9-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 93-dollars-21-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….