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

Making headlines: DA says Hlophe’s election to JSC poses risk of paralysing the JSC; Eskom implements load reduction in seven provinces, but loadshedding remains suspended; And, UN experts says conflict in Congo threatens trade in key metals

DA says Hlophe’s election to JSC poses risk of paralysing the JSC

The Democratic Alliance said it believes that it is not reasonable or rational to elect Umkhonto weSizwe Party’s caucus leader in Parliament Dr John Hlophe as a representative of the National Assembly on the Judicial Services Commission.

The National Assembly on Tuesday elected Hlophe to the JSC.

Hlophe was removed from his office as a judge for gross misconduct after it was found that he tried to influence Constitutional Court justices to decide a politically sensitive case in favour of former President and present MK leader Jacob Zuma.

The finding of gross misconduct was made by the JSC and the courts, and Parliament impeached him.

Today, the DA, along with the Freedom Front Plus and the African Christian Democratic Party, recorded their objections to Hlophe serving on the JSC, with the DA highlighting that it was a matter of public record that Hlophe lost the status as a judge of the High Court in South Africa as a consequence of a finding of gross misconduct by the JSC.

House also designated Molapi Lekganyane, Fasiha Hassan, Glynnis Breytenbach, Julius Malema, and Athol Trollip to represent Parliament on the JSC.

Eskom implements load reduction in seven provinces, but loadshedding remains suspended

With continued cold winter weather, increasing electricity theft and the indiscriminate use of electricity, the issue of network overloading has resurfaced in seven of South Africa’s provinces, said State-owned power utility Eskom.

It will, therefore, implement load reduction in Limpopo, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and KwaZulu-Natal.

This is despite the utility having achieved more than 100 consecutive days without loadshedding.

Eskom has sufficient generation capacity to meet demand, meaning it does not have to resort to loadshedding; however, as customers’ demand is higher than what the equipment in particular areas can withstand, load reduction is implemented to prevent transformers and substations from being damaged and potentially exploding, which could injure people.

During the winter season, there is an exponential increase in energy demand in areas prone to electricity theft, as electricity is often used indiscriminately, leading to network failure owing to extreme overloading, the utility points out.

It notes that there are currently about 2 111 transformers that are frequently overloaded across the country and at risk of being damaged, with about 900 transformers awaiting replacement.

And, UN experts says conflict in Congo threatens trade in key metals

Companies buying metal sourced from central Africa could be exposing themselves to UN sanctions for supporting war in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a report by UN experts.

Congo’s trade in gold, tin and tantalum, a key mineral in portable electronics, is directly supporting armed groups involved in widespread human rights abuses and fueling one of the world’s deadliest conflicts, the experts said in the report published yesterday.

In the last year, multiple armed groups have taken over one of the world’s biggest tantalum ore sites in Congo, Rubaya, making it “ineligible for trade, according to the Group of Experts’ due diligence guidelines,” the group said. The site’s takeover presented a “serious risk” that its tin ore or tantalum could “contaminate” the supply chain from the region.

Congo and Rwanda provided more than 60% of the world’s tantalum in 2023, according to estimates by the US Geological Survey, which considers it a “critical mineral.”

The group created its due diligence guidelines for companies in 2010 at the direction of the UN Security Council as part of an international movement to stop the purchase of minerals that fund conflict in Congo.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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