Election Campaigning Picks Up, Eskom Extends Load-Shedding

LOCAL NEWS

• Election campaigning picked up over the weekend with the DA's efforts around Cape Town hitting a hurdle when the party contradicted statements from its leader, John Steenhuisen, about using golf courses as land for development – while the ANC has continued its strategy of admitting it has not done enough and promising to do more.
  • However, the ANC made it clear that it is not looking at coalitions or partnerships in any municipality, saying it's all or nothing for governance in the country.
  • Ramaphosa said the ANC was in the process of rebuilding and any candidates would undergo a review process before entering office. Ramaphosa also said he was confident of an ANC victory in KZN
• Eskom says it will extend load-shedding to 5am on Thursday to replenish emergency reserves and address additional risks to its generation fleet.
  • Breakdowns at Kusile, Komati & Hendrina power stations along witl belt failures and boiler tube leaks at Tukuta are among the issues. One generating unit at Majuba is being returned today, but was insufficient to curb the use of emergency reserves
• Rumours suggest that businessman and former ANC Treasurer General Matthews Phosa may become the face of the RET faction as a possible candidate to challenge Ramaphosa in next year's presidential elections
• Road agency Sanral posts an annual loss of R14.5bn, which the Auditor General says puts into question the company's ability to continue as a going concern.
  • Adding to this issue is the continued uncertainty around the e-tolling project, it said. Govt continues to dither on the matter, while Sanral's debt continues to be a glaring issue.
  • Sanral's total debt at the end of the financial year was R45.9bn – down from R47.8bn last year. However, the group's total liabilities are at a massive R140.4bn

Data:

• 1030BST: Sep SACCI Business Confidence