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

Making headlines: Eskom to downgrade loadshedding to Stages 3 and 4 from Tuesday; DA lays charges against Mashatile following corruption allegations; And, Ramphosa says SA looking abroad for skills it doesn't currently have

Eskom to downgrade loadshedding to Stages 3 and 4 from Tuesday

Power utility Eskom plans to downgrade loadshedding to Stage 3 from 05:00 on Tuesday.

This will be followed by Stage 4 loadshedding from 16:00 on Tuesday to 05:00 on Wednesday. This pattern will be repeated until further notice.

Eskom points out that five generating units were returned to service on Sunday and early this morning. 

Unplanned outages have reduced to 14 579 MW of generating capacity, while the capacity out of service for planned maintenance is at 7 316 MW.

DA lays charges against Mashatile following corruption allegations

The Democratic Alliance has formally laid criminal charges against Deputy President Paul Mashatile, after allegations of corruption, spanning almost two decades, were levelled against him.

It has been reported that Mashatile's son-in-law Nceba Nonkwelo purchased a R28.9-million home in Constantia, Cape Town, last year through one of his companies, Bilcosat.

Between March and May 2023, Nonkwelo, through his business entities, funded the purchase of properties allegedly for Mashatile's benefit, worth R65.9-million.

DA leader John Steenhuisen said the integrity of the South African government was laughable when the country’s second in command had such a large cloud of dire corruption allegations hanging over his head.

The party said that in addition to laying criminal charges against Mashatile the DA was seeking an appointment with the Hawks, which were already involved in an investigation with other several matters related to Mashatile.

The DA will seek to supplement the Hawks’ case with matters outlined in the charge sheet.

And, Ramphosa says SA looking abroad for skills it doesn't currently have

President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that with South Africa becoming an “increasingly attractive destination” for business process outsourcing and customer experience, attracting more skilled workers will be important.

Last week, the Department of Home Affairs published for public comment draft amendments to existing immigration regulations that aim to significantly boost efforts to attract workers with critical skills to South Africa.

The draft amendments deal with two visa categories: a remote working visa and the critical skills visa.

Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that in line with the country’s ongoing efforts to attract higher levels of investment and promote job creation, the new work visa regulations were a milestone.

He said that the visa regulations were part of high-impact structural reforms government was undertaking to improve the business operating environment.

Ramaphosa explained that the introduction of a remote working visa responded to the rapidly evolving world of work, where increasing numbers of skilled workers, particularly those in the tech industry, were attracted by the lifestyle benefits of working from a remote location.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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