For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: Panyaza Lesufi elected Gauteng premier; 5 more Western Cape hospitals exempt from load-shedding; And, besides 2021, more power was cut in September than in any other

Panyaza Lesufi elected Gauteng premier

Gauteng has a new premier in former MEC for education Panyaza Lesufi who was elected during a special sitting of the legislature today.

Lesufi defeated Democratic Alliance candidate Solly Msimanga by 16 votes. He received 38 of the 60 votes that were cast while Msimanga got 22.

There were 13 members that did not vote.

His election comes because of the resignation of former premier David Makhura who has been at the helm of the province since 2014.

5 more Western Cape hospitals exempt from load-shedding

Five more hospitals in the Western Cape have been exempted from load-shedding, bringing the total number of hospitals protected in the province to eight.

The move follows an urgent media briefing at the end of last month by Provincial Health MEC Dr Nomafrench Mbombo, following an announcement by her national counterpart, Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla.

Since then, the City of Cape Town and Eskom have made progress in exempting other hospitals.

Tygerberg, Groote Schuur and Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospitals were already exempt prior to the request for the additional 19 other hospitals.

New Somerset Hospital, Mitchells Plain Hospital, Karl Bremer Hospital, Victoria Hospital and George Hospital will now join the growing list of hospitals that will be excluded from load-shedding.

And, besides 2021, more power was cut in September than in any other

Eskom data has confirmed that South Africans endured their worst-ever month of load-shedding in September 2022, with a total of 1 503 Gigawatt hours (GWh) estimated to have been shed and with 572 hours of the month’s 720 hours directly affected.

Analysis by Eskom Research, Testing and Development’s Dr Ulrich Minnaar also shows that, besides 2021, there were more power cuts in September than had been experienced in any other entire year since load-shedding started in 2007.

For the year to October 5, an estimated 4 115 GWh has been load-shed, which is materially worse than the 1 776 GWh shed in 2021, which previously held the unhappy distinction of being South Africa’s most intensive load-shedding year.

The country’s next worst month was July 2022, when 397 hours were affected by rotational power cuts and 938 GWh was shed.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter [@PolityZA]