For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Mc'Kyla Nortje.

Making headlines: Right to Know pickets over Rica privacy failure; Eskom asks customers to reduce demand as likelihood of power cuts grows; And, Labour federation Fedusa slams 3.8% national minimum wage increase

 

Right to Know pickets over Rica privacy failure

Advocacy organisation, the Right2Know Campaign is protesting in Pretoria and Cape Town against what it says is the failure of the Rica Act to protect South African citizens’ right to privacy.

R2K members held protests at the National Communications Centre, in Pretoria, and at Parliament, in Cape Town.

The campaign said Rica’s requirement that telecommunication users’ metadata be stored for years is a massive and systemic violation of the rights of all South Africans who use digital communication.

Recently, the State Security Minister appealed a North Gauteng High Court judgment which found parts of Rica unconstitutional and invalid.

 

Eskom asks customers to reduce demand as likelihood of power cuts grows

Eskom has warned of an increased possibility of power cuts later today after it lost additional generation capacity due to unplanned breakdowns at some of its power plants. 

While the utility is not currently implementing load-shedding, it urged customers to keep reducing demand and use electricity sparingly.

Eskom explained that unplanned outages increased to 11 249MW on Wednesday morning from 10 868 MW on Tuesday afternoon.

 

And, Labour federation Fedusa slams 3.8% national minimum wage increase

The Federation of Unions of South Africa said it was outraged after the employment and labour minister only increased the statutory minimum wage by 3.8% to R20.76 an hour with effect from March 1.

The country's National Minimum Wage Act came into effect at the beginning of 2019, compelling all employers in the formal non-agricultural sector to pay their workers a minimum wage of R20 an hour or R3 500 a month.

Fedusa said the latest adjustment to the minimum wage was "totally unjustifiable and in serious conflict with the vision of ejecting millions of South Africans out of the poverty trap.

 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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