News 11:00

BULLETIN 13 February 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA demands accountability at Eskom
# European countries want to be part of the peace negotiations in Ukraine
# And cricket: The Proteas want to improve before the Champions Trophy

# ActionSA demands accountability for corruption at Eskom from Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and Eskom chairperson Mteto Nyati. The Auditor-General revealed massive losses from irregular spending and fraud, contributing to skyrocketing electricity costs by 135- percent in eight years, devastating households and businesses. ActionSA’s Alan Beesley calls for urgent reforms, removal of incompetent executives, and legal action against those responsible for corruption:

# Justice and Constitutional Development minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi, says effectively ridding the state of corruption requires strengthening institutions that are tasked with fighting corruption. The Special Investigating Unit has saved some eight-billion-rand in state coffers in the 2023/’24 financial year. It also successfully set aside contracts worth over 2.13-billion-rand through the Special Tribunal and the High Court. Kubayi says government must rid itself of all corrupt practices so that an ethical and capable developmental state can be created.

# AfriForum has applied to the High Court in Pretoria for leave to appeal a ruling approving the implementation of a new electricity tariff structure in the Mogale City Municipality in Gauteng. According to the organisation, the municipality previously applied a fixed tariff structure, but last year decided to implement a 12.7-percent increase without informing residents. AfriForum’s Deidré Steffens says this resulted in some tariffs increasing by more than 30-percent at certain usage levels:

# Seven European countries including Britain, France, and Germany, insist that they must be part of any future peace negotiations to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. This comes after US president Donald Trump spoke to Russian president Vladimir Putin, and the pair agreed to immediately begin negotiating an end to the war. In a joint statement, the Foreign ministers of the seven countries say Ukraine should be provided with strong security guarantees. They add that a just and lasting peace in Ukraine is necessary for strong trans-Atlantic security.

# Cricket: Proteas captain Temba Bavuma says there are aspects of their game they need to improve on heading into the Champions Trophy. Pakistan defeated South Africa by six wickets in their Tri-Series match in Karachi yesterday, setting up a showdown with New Zealand in tomorrow’s final. The Proteas begin their Champions Trophy campaign against Afghanistan next Friday. Bavuma says they will need to put on an all-round performance in tough batting conditions in Pakistan:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-44-cents and the euro at 19-rand-24-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-7-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-161-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-917-dollars-47-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-30-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….