For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: EFF, ANC and ActionSA block plan for R26-billion unsolicited bid to ramp up Tshwane electricity; Artist claims he is the rightful designer of SA's flag and takes Nathi Mthethwa to court; And, Eskom implements stage 2 load-shedding

 

EFF, ANC and ActionSA block plan for R26-billion unsolicited bid to ramp up Tshwane electricity

A R26-billion bid to refurbish the City of Tshwane's power stations, likely leading to an increase in the city's electricity supply, has been put on hold after opposition political parties accused Mayor Randall Williams of flouting municipal legislation.

The City of Tshwane council met to consider a forensic report into an unsolicited bid from a company that offered to refurbish and maintain two power stations in Tshwane.

The Pretoria West and Rooiwal coal power stations have been out of operation since 2014.

The bid envisages the power stations to be refurbished and turned into gas energy supply networks.

Williams said the intervention would help generate 800 megawatts of power over the long term and possibly ease load-shedding in the city. 

But the city's opposition political parties, the African National Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters and the DA-coalition partners ActionSA, did not agree, and objected to the report being adopted and forwarded for public comment.

 

Artist claims he is the rightful designer of SA's flag and takes Nathi Mthethwa to court

An Eastern Cape artist who claims to be the rightful designer of South Africa's flag has dragged Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to compel him to provide details of how the flag was created.

56 year old Thembani Hastings Mqhayi has, for years, claimed that the man credited for the design of the flag, Frederick Brownell, stole his designs and submitted them as his own.

Brownell died in 2019, and was hailed as a hero after having served at the National Archives of South Africa as the State Herald between 1982 and 2002.

Mqhayi is a senior government employee at the Eastern Cape Department of Arts and Culture, in Makhanda, as a manager of cultural affairs.

He claimed that the flag was one of five different original designs he submitted in early 1994 to the office of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.

 

And, Eskom implements stage 2 load-shedding

Eskom has announced that Stage 2 load-shedding will be implemented at 4pm to 12 midnight today and at the same time on Thursday.

The breakdowns of a generation unit each at Duvha, Kendal and Kriel power stations, during the last 24 hours, as well as other unit delays, have put a severe strain on the power generation system.

Eskom teams have returned a unit each at Arnot and Tutuka power stations to service.

Some 4 550 megawatts in power generation is out on planned maintenance, while another 14 637 megawatts of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.

 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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