News 12:00

BULLETIN 26 October 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Hlabisa says the IEC and the government are ready for the elections
# Eskom marks 525 days without load-shedding
# And cricket: Australia is looking to turn their batting form around in the final Test against the Proteas

# Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa says logistical, technical, and security arrangements are fully on track for next Wednesday’s local government elections. Nearly 29.2-million South Africans are registered to vote, with 546 political parties contesting the polls. Almost 137-thousand candidates will be vying for just over ten-thousand-500 council seats. Hlabisa, who chairs the inter-ministerial committee on Local Government, told the SABC they have full confidence in the Electoral Commission:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says government has been walking a difficult path over the last few years to stabilise the country’s public finances and tackle the high levels of poverty and unemployment. Last week, minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana tabled the mini-budget which showed public debt has stabilised and government revenue is now about 54-billion-rand higher than expected. In his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa says it is government’s responsibility to make sure these financial gains turn into real improvements that South Africans can actually see and feel.

# Eskom reached 525 consecutive days without load-shedding since 16 May last year as generation recovery hits a six-year high. The utility says its year-to-date energy availability factor rose to 68.1-percent, up from 62.48-percent last year, adding 6.424-megawatt of capacity compared to three years ago. Unplanned outages fell by over seven-thousand megawatt in three years, and diesel spend dropped by 4.81-billion-rand. The utility says Eskom now has four-thousand-961 megawatt surplus above demand, shifting from crisis management to stability.

Moving abroad:

# The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has identified two additional suspected cases of Ebola and 53 primary contacts. The virus was first detected in a woman who arrived in the capital of Abuja from Uganda on the eleventh of this month. The 42-year-old is the wife of a Swiss embassy staff worker based in Abuja. The centre’s head, Jide Idris, says cooperation from affected individuals would support efforts to identify possible transmission links:

# Cricket: Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey says they are keen to turn their batting form around and provide a team-wide contribution in the deciding Test against the Proteas, starting in Cape Town tomorrow. After the first-innings collapse for 99 in the second Test in Gqeberha, Australia’s lowest first-innings score since 2016, coach Andrew McDonald bemoaned that the batting order was unable to soak up pressure for long enough. Carey admits their batting wasn’t up to standard:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-61-cents and the euro at 18-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-43-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-14-dollars-8-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 115-dollars-35-sents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….