Daily news update: Load shedding suspended, Senzo Meyiwa trial and Sassa SRD Disaster relief

Here is your daily news update. Click on the links below for the full story or visit our home page for the latest news.

Daily news update 23 April

Eskom to suspend load shedding tonight at 10pm

Eskom has announced load shedding will be suspended at 10 pm on Friday night.

However, the embattled parastatal warned that the power system remains severely constrained.

“Eskom would like to again caution that even with the return to service of these units, the power system remains severely constrained and volatile,” it said in a statement.

The power giant said it anticipated to continue relying on the use of emergency reserves to meet demand next week.

Senzo Meyiwa: NPA ready for trial to ensure justice for Meyiwa family

As the trial of the five men charged with the murder of Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana soccer star Senzo Meyiwa returns back to court on Friday, the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) lead prosecutor Advocate George Baloyi has urged all role players to ensure the matter get underway in the interest of justice for the Meyiwa family and the public.

This comes after the trial was scheduled to start on Monday 11 April, but could not proceed due to a number of requests for postponement by Advocate Zandile Mshololo for accused number five, Sifisokuhle Ntuli.

She asked Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela for a postponement to consult with her client and with witnesses.

Labour Court rules in favour of 130 City of Joburg employees

The Labour Court has ruled in favour of the 130 City of Johannesburg workers whose permanent employment contracts were reversed.

Last month, the 130 employees, took legal action against the metropolitan municipality following a contract dispute.

This was after the City of Joburg‘s council decided to reverse the workers’ permanent employment.

At the time, Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse said the council had taken a decision after the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and the employees’ lawyers missed the deadline to make any representations to challenge the move.

Zondo asks for another extension of the State Capture inquiry

Chief Justice and chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture Raymond Zondo has reportedly approached the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria seeking yet another extension.

In an affidavit, Zondo said the commission was “about to deliver” an electronic version of Part 4 of its report to President Cyril Ramaphosa “some time today (Friday) or this evening, or tomorrow morning”, and a hard copy on Monday, reports News24.

Although the commission had made progress in compiling the fourth part of the State Capture report, it had not been able to complete all the remaining topics and would consequently not meet the 30 April deadline, Zondo reportedly said in his affidavit.

Over 800 SANDF reservists owed R24m in unpaid salaries – report

More than 800 SANDF reservists are reportedly owed R24 million collectively in unpaid salaries after they were recruited for military service during the July unrest in KwaZulu-Natal last year.

HeraldLIVE on Friday reported that the recruits of the Umzimvubu Regiment were meant to assist in Operation Prosper, a joint police and SANDF operation, but were never deployed to Durban.

This was apparently due to military officials being unprepared for the recruits who were deployed to the 14 South African Infantry (14SAI) military base in Mthatha.

Sassa SRD Disaster relief: Here’s how to apply for your R1,200 voucher

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) this week urged residents in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) who are affected by the floods to apply for SRD grant vouchers.

The vouchers are meant to provide temporary relief to people affected by the floods – mainly those “who are unable to meet their family’s most basic needs”, Sassa said.

Sassa is providing food vouchers worth R1,200 per family, as well as additional grants for families who lost loved ones due to the natural disaster.

ALSO READ: Daily news update: KZN flood death toll, stage 2 load shedding and Sedibeng District Municipality