South Africa: Today’s latest news and headlines, Wednesday 5 February

Looking for the latest news in South Africa? Be sure to check out the day’s biggest headlines on Wednesday 5 February.

While former President Jacob Zuma plots his next move in the wake of his arrest warrant being issued by Judge Dhaya Pillay of the Pietermaritzburg High Court, Eskom backtracks on its strategy of reprieve and reimplements load shedding during rush hour traffic. In sports news, Australia announces its squad which is set to face the Proteas in South Africa later this month.

Today’s latest news in South Africa, Wednesday 5 February

Jacob Zuma’s warrant of arrest

In addition to being under the weather, Jacob Zuma, who defaulted on his court appearance in the Arms Deal corruption case on Tuesday, could face arrest if he is unable to prove the validity of is ill-health.

The former president’s legal team, led by advocate Dan Mantsha, presented documentation which claimed to verify that Zuma was receiving medical treatment from a military hospital. State prosecutors argued that Zuma’s numerous no-shows had shown a complete disregard for the judicial process.

Presiding judge Dhaya Pillay postponed proceedings and demanded that Zuma prove his incapacity to the court by 6 May 2020. The arrest warrant will become active if Zuma fails to appear at his next scheduled appearance.

Eskom’s load shedding pilot programme falls flat

Eskom’s ‘favours’ have fallen flat in the face of a worsening energy crisis. The embattled power utility, which has failed to keep up supply for most of the new year, will continue to implement Stage 2 load shedding amid a spike in plant breakdowns.

Eskom had previously announced that it would halt load shedding during periods of high traffic congestion – from 06:00 and 09:00 and 16:00 to 18:00 – to mitigate mayhem on South African roads. On Tuesday afternoon, however, Eskom rescinded on its ‘pilot programme’ and announced that it would be unable to delay load shedding. The utility explained that it was busy conducting critical maintenance, adding:

“Eskom has previously communicated that any risk based on the available capacity and emergency reserves would determine whether or not we are able to implement the suspension of load shedding during peak traffic hours.”

Roll call of South Africans in China amid Coronavirus

The South African Mission in China has called on travellers to register their presence in China to provide an accurate figure of the number of South Africans in that country.

The call comes as South Africa continues to keep a close watch on developments in China following the declaration of the novel Coronavirus outbreak as a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO) last week.

Giving an update on developments, the Health Department said the registration of travellers is on a voluntary basis.

The Health Department said it received a report from the South African Mission in China, which gives a situational update of the state of affairs in the Asian country.

“The report has been reassuring in that it outlines in detail the steps that have been taken by the Mission itself, the People’s Republic of China and the international community, including the private sector, in managing the outbreak and the adverse socio-economic sequelae thereof,” said the Health Ministry in a statement. (Source: SAnews)

Petrol price reprieve for South African motorists

The petrol price will come down by 13 cents a litre this week.

Both grades of petrol 93 (ULP and LRP) and 95 (ULP and LRP) will come down by 13 cents a litre as of Wednesday.

This will see a litre of 95 come down to R16.03 in Gauteng, down from R16.16 in January.

Meanwhile, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced that both grades of diesel (0.05% Sulphur) and diesel (0.005% Sulphur) will come down by 5 cents a litre.

The price of illuminating paraffin (wholesale) will decrease by 3 cents per litre, while that of illuminating paraffin (SMNRP) go down by 4 cents a litre.

The Maximum Retail Price for LPGAS will decrease by 1 cents per kilogram.

The department said the average international product prices for petrol decreased, while the prices of diesel and illuminating paraffin increased during the period under review. (Source: SAnews)

Orlando Pirates coach delighted with Lorch’s resurgence

Reigning PSL Player of the Season Thembinkosi Lorch looks to be on the comeback trail, according to Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer.

The 26-year-old had an indifferent start to the season, which coincided with the club failing to build any sort of consistency during the first half of the season.

He looked a shadow of the player that dominated the league throughout the 2018/19 season, and etched his name in Bafana folklore by providing one of the top moments in the most recent Africa Cup of Nations, where he provided the goal that knocked host nation Egypt out.

Since the start of 2020, he seems to have found a bit of his lost spark, and has made notable contributions to the Buccaneers’ impressive run.

Australia name squads for upcoming tour to South Africa

Australia have named squads for the upcoming limited-overs tour of South Africa.

After their tumultuous Test tour in 2018, the men from Down Under return later in the month to play the Proteas in three T20I matches and as many ODIs.

The squad, across both formats, led by regular skipper Aaron Finch, with Steve Smith and David Warner returning to South Africa for the first time since their starring role in the infamous ball-tampering scandal.

Some interesting omissions have been made, most notably that of the in-form Marcus Stionis.

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