News 12:00

BULLETIN 1 March 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Dan Marokane assumes the role of Eskom CEO  

# Four suspects are arrested after the shooting of a DA councillor in Jeffreys Bay  

# And the Water and Sanitation Department dedicates March as National Water Month

# Dan Marokane officially begins his tenure as Eskom CEO today. He is no stranger to the power utility having previously served as a senior executive from January 2010 to June 2015. Eskom’s spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says Marokane re-joins the power utility at a time when it faces an existential challenge, and is undergoing significant changes that require hands-on, bold, and decisive leadership:

# The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union has welcomed the appointment of Michelle Phillips as Transnet CEO. Phillips, who has more than 20 years’ experience working at the state-owned entity, was the acting CEO after several high-level resignations last year. Satawu says her experience will help turn Transnet’s fortunes around. National Treasury has provided Transnet with an 47-billion-rand guarantee facility to support its recovery plan and to meet its debt obligations.

# Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the shooting of DA councillor, Jaques Alexander, in Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape. According to police, the 49-year-old was parking his vehicle outside the Kouga Municipality’s offices when two men started shooting at him and then ran in different directions. They were swiftly caught by police. The two other suspects, who were in the getaway vehicle which was stolen, were arrested in Da Gama Street. Alexander serves as a member of the mayoral committee for Corporate and Communication Services.

# Tennis: Three Grand Slam champions, American Venus Williams, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, and Britain’s Emma Raducanu, have been awarded wildcards for the Miami Open. Wozniacki, a finalist in Miami in 2017, returns for the first time since 2019, having taken a three-year break following the birth of her two children. The field will be led by world number one and 2022 champion Iga Swiatek of Poland and reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. The tournament starts on the 17th of this month.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-23-cents and the euro at 20-rand-79-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-30-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-103-dollars-59-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-39-dollars-50-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-93-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The Department of Water and Sanitation says it will embark on its advocacy programmes this month. This is part of National Water Month which is conceptualised along the annual commemoration of World Water Day to be observed on the 22nd of this month. The department’s spokesperson, Wisane Mavasa, says the United Nations uses World Water Day to focus attention on the global water crisis and raise awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water:

Stay tuned for more news………….