For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Nadine Ramdass.

Making headlines: Ramaphosa says vaccine should be made available to all, not just to the highest bidders, Nersa urges stakeholders to join it in opposing Eskom’s latest court challenge and, Eastern Cape premier to take action against Magashule over stolen money claims

Ramaphosa says vaccine should be made available to all, not just to the highest bidders

President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that if the international community is truly committed to human rights and the values of equality and non-discrimination, vaccines should be viewed as a global public good.

Ramaphosa said in his weekly letter to the nation that vaccines should be made available to all, not just to the highest bidders. 

South Africa and India have proposed a temporary waiver of certain aspects of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights to give poorer countries wider access to technologies needed to produce vaccines and medicines.

Ramaphosa highlighted that currently, 55% of the existing vaccine manufacturing capacity is located in East Asia, 40% in Europe and North America, and less than 5% in Africa and South America. In the case of developing countries, much of this capacity is under-utilised.

Nersa urges stakeholders to join it in opposing Eskom’s latest court challenge

The National Energy Regulator of South will oppose an Eskom High Court application seeking to review and set aside the Energy Regulator’s latest regulatory clearing account determination.

In an unusual step, the regulator also urged other stakeholders to join it in opposing the utility’s legal challenge.

The RCA decision, which relates to the 2018/2019 financial year, was made in 2020 and was one of several factors that contributed to this year’s 15.63% hike.

Following an adjudication of Eskom’s 2018/2019 RCA application, Eskom was given permission to recoup R13.3-billion, broken into two yearly amounts, as well as a supplementary revenue balance of R1.3-billion.

The State-owned utility had applied to recover R27-billion.

Eastern Cape premier to take action against Magashule over stolen money claims

Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane has slammed embattled African National Congress secretary-general Ace Magashule amid claims that money stolen from municipalities were allegedly deposited into his bank account.

Mabuyane denied any wrongdoing, saying he did not receive any money from businessman Lonwabo Bam and said claims made against him were cleared up by the party's integrity committee.

In an SABC interview Magashule revealed he had numerous meetings with some of the individuals, including Bam, who were allegedly behind the campaign to damage Mabuyane's reputation.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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