News 11:00

BULLETIN 1 September 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Business Leadership SA says there is an urgent need to reform the country’s electricity sector
# Over 200 people are dead following a 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan
# And soccer: Bafana Bafana is focused on the World Cup qualifiers

# Business Leadership South Africa is calling on government to accelerate the transition to competitive electricity markets with licensed traders and independent generators. This follows the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s 54-billion-rand settlement with Eskom over tariff calculation errors. BLSA CEO Busiswe Mavuso says the error exposes the absurdity of a system that allows Eskom to pass costs to customers without competitive pressure. She adds there is no greater sign of the urgent need for reform of the electricity sector than the way Eskom’s electricity tariffs are set. 

# The Forum for South Africa has accused acting Police minister Firoz Cachalia of being two-faced and untrustworthy in the fight against crime and corruption. Cachalia has expressed concern over National police commissioner Fanie Masemola’s decision to return 121 dockets related to political killings back to the KwaZulu-Natal political killings task team. The forum’s leader, Tebogo Mashilompane, says South Africans deserve leaders who will confront corruption without fear or favour:

# The DA in the Western Cape has welcomed the provincial Education Department’s announcement that the basket of posts allocation for 2025, amounting to 35-thousand-934 posts, will be retained for the 2026 school year. This comes a year after the WCED cut two-thousand-407 teaching posts for 2025 due to a significant budget shortfall. The DA’s Peter Johnson says each year, thousands of learners move to the province, placing additional strain on the education system:

Moving abroad:

# At least 250 people were killed and over 500 injured when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan’s eastern region. The epicentre was near the country’s fifth-largest city, Jalalabad. The earthquake was also felt in several cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces in neighbouring Pakistan. The Taliban government says the death toll is expected to increase as rescue efforts continue. Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

# Soccer: Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says the squad is determined to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as they face Lesotho and Nigeria in next month’s first-round qualifiers. Broos highlighted challenges in squad selection due to injuries and club disagreements, but expressed confidence in younger players stepping up. He urged caution against underestimating Lesotho while preparing for Nigeria to secure South Africa’s World Cup ambitions:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-60-cents and the euro at 20-rand-63-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-81-cents and Bitcoin trades at 108-thousand-88-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-484-dollars-80-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-42-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….