News 17:00

BULLETIN 9 January 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Parliament names Pravin Gordhan as the minister with the most unanswered questions on his portfolio
# Stages 1 and 2 load-shedding is reintroduced from this afternoon
# And Cricket: Graeme Smith expects an even bigger second season for the SA20

# Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan has been implicated as the top minister who failed to respond to written questions from Members of Parliament. Parliament published a list of ministers with unanswered questions dating back to February last year. Gordhan faces scrutiny with 17 unanswered questions in his portfolio, which includes oversight of state-owned enterprises like Eskom. Others on the list include Small Business Development minister Stella Ndabeni, minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Mondli Gungubele.

# Eskom has announced the return of stages 1 and 2 load-shedding from 4 PM this evening until further notice. The power utility cites setbacks in returning two generating units to service, coupled with the loss of three other units. Eskom reassures the public that its power station managers and their teams are working to ensure that two-thousand-700 megaWatts of generating capacity is returned to service before the end of the week.

# United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken has reiterated the call for Israel to enhance civilian protection in Gaza during critical discussions with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv. The urgent talks revolve around preventing further regional escalation and facilitating the delivery of essential humanitarian aid to address the escalating conflict. The diplomatic efforts gained significance amidst recent events, including the airstrike that claimed the life of Hezbollah commander Wissam al-Tawil in southern Lebanon. Blinken supports the necessity of outlining a political trajectory for Palestinians:

# Cricket: The second season of the SA20 is due to start at St George’s Park in Gqeberha tomorrow, with defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape hosting Joburg Super Kings. All Proteas stars will be available for the competition, which ends with the final at Newlands in Cape Town on the tenth of February. The winning team will walk away with a handsome 34-million-rand in prize money. The first season was very successful and SA20 commissioner, former Proteas captain Graeme Smith, says season two could be even bigger:

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-66-cents and the euro at 20-rand-41-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-74-cents and Bitcoin trades at 46-thousand-741-dollars-12-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-34-dollars-98-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-12-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Time Square Casino in Menlyn, Pretoria, and Carnival City in Brakpan on the Gauteng East Rand are celebrating big wins at the third World Casino Awards 2023. The Maslow Time Square Hotel secured honors as South Africa’s Best Casino Hotel 2023 and Africa’s Best Casino Hotel 2023. Time Square SunBet Arena was recognised as Africa’s Best Casino Entertainment Venue 2023. Carnival City Casino also clinched top awards, being named both South Africa’s Best Casino 2023 and Africa’s Best Casino 2023.

Stay tuned for more news………….