Daily news update: Kusile and Medupi delays, NNB mayor, more charges against Rwandan fugitive

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Daily news update: Saturday, 27 May 2023

WATCH: ‘Somebody didn’t want Kusile and Medupi to be finished’ – Mbeki

As the country battles the energy crisis and relentless load shedding, former President Thabo Mbeki has questioned the shocking state of South Africa’s power stations suggesting that the delay in competing the Kusile Power Station is a “deliberate and conscious decision”.

Mbeki raised the questions during an interview with veteran SABC journalist Sophie Mokoena on Thursday.

READ: WATCH: ‘Somebody didn’t want Kusile and Medupi to be finished’ – Mbeki

New Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor

The Northern Alliance’s Gary van Niekerk has been elected as the new mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay.

Babalwa Lobishe was voted in as deputy mayor after old deputy mayor Khusta Jack declined his nomination

The election of Van Niekerk comes after the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) Retief Odendaal was ousted in a motion of no confidence.

READ: Northern Alliance’s Gary van Niekerk elected new Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor

More charges against Rwandan fugitive

Former Rwandan police officer Fulgence Kayishema, accused of ordering the killing of some 2 000 Tutsis who were seeking refuge in a church during the 1994 genocide has been remanded in custody with more charges expected to be added against him.

The 62-year-old Kayishema appeared briefly in Cape Town Magistrates court on Friday charged with two counts of fraud and three counts of transgression of the Immigration Act.

The court granted the state a seven-day postponement to continue with its investigation, as it seeks to add more charges against Kayishema.

READ: More charges to be brought against Rwandan fugitive Fulgence Kayishema

Eskom wage negotiations to continue

It’s back to the drawing board again after unions rejected Eskom’s latest offer in wage negotiations.

There will be yet around round of talks between Eskom and its trade unions next month as the parties look to come to an agreement on a suitable pay increase for the 2023/2024 financial year.

Eskom met with National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and Solidarity at the Centralised Bargaining Forum this week to continue discussions on salary hike for the power utility’s employees.

READ: Eskom wage negotiations set to continue next month after unions reject final offer

Hammanskraal: DWS and Tshwane team up

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the City of Tshwane on Friday united forces to tackle the water crisis in Hammanskraal, following the cholera outbreak which claimed 22 lives.

A joint task team between the department and the city will oversee the plans discussed, with continuous reporting to DWS.

Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu and Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink discussed a blueprint of action to address Hammanskraal’s water supply hurdles.

READ MORE: Turning the tide: DWS and Tshwane team up to fix Hammanskraal’s water crisis

Load shedding stage 5 weekend schedule

Ailing state-owned entity Eskom said stage 5 load shedding will be implemented from 4pm on Friday  afternoon until 5am on Saturday.

Thereafter, various stages of the rolling blackouts will be implemented over the weekend.

Eskom crisis communication manager Menzi Mngomezulu said the utility will publish another update if there are any significant changes.

READ MORE: Eskom pushes load shedding to stage 5 ahead of weekend – here’s the schedule