News 14:00

BULLETIN 19 January 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa mourns the children killed in the Gauteng learner transport tragedy
# Residents are urged to conserve water as Knysna faces Day Zero
# And soccer: The Department of Sport signs a historic agreement with FIFA

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says it is particularly distressing that this morning’s deadly learner transport accident in Gauteng occurred on the same day the South African Human Rights Commission published a report on learner transport in North West. At least 12 learners were killed this morning when their vehicle collided with a truck near Vanderbijlpark. Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says authorities will provide families and schools with the necessary psycho-social support:

# The Department of Water and Sanitation blames the water crisis in Knysna in the Western Cape on the municipality’s years of poor maintenance. The Akkerkloof Dam is currently at around 15-percent capacity as Day Zero approaches. Officials warn high seasonal demand and panic buying are worsening the situation. Authorities are working on short-term measures while urging residents to conserve water and await urgent intervention or rainfall.

# Eskom is rolling out a new customer service model featuring scheduled mobile customer hubs and pop-up service points across communities. These mobile offerings operate in addition to the power utility’s brick-and-mortar facilities, which continue to operate in strategic and accessible areas. Eskom’s Distribution acting group executive, Agnes Mlambo, says this hybrid model offers faster access to assistance, supports service improvements, and creates more opportunities for direct customer engagement. She adds they are moving away from a static service model to a dynamic, customer-centred approach. 

Moving abroad:

# At least 39 people have been confirmed dead after a high-speed train derailed and collided with an oncoming one in southern Spain in the worst railway accident in the country since 2013. Emergency services say 122 people were injured, of whom 48 are still in hospital and 12 in intensive care. The accident happened near Adamuz in the province of Cordoba, about 360-kilometres south of the capital of Madrid. The two trains carried 400 passengers, most of them Spaniards travelling to and from Madrid after the weekend.

# Soccer: Sport, Arts and Culture minister Gayton McKenzie signed a cooperation agreement with FIFA Development Zurich AG, establishing a fully-supported FIFA regional development office in Johannesburg. Spokesperson Zimasa Velaphi says the agreement provides a framework for South Africa to facilitate the world governing body’s administrative, movement and operational activities in the country, while FIFA assumes responsibility for funding and staffing the office, which will serve South Africa and neighbouring countries:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-42-cents and the euro at 19-rand-9-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-2-cents and Bitcoin trades at 92-thousand-954-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-668-dollars-35-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-99-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….