For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines: SA records 1 548 new cases and 71 more deaths, NUM rails against Eskom's claims on average staff salary and, Eskom highlights financial limitations as it mulls industrial applications for discounted tariffs

SA records 1 548 new cases and 71 more deaths

South Africa recorded 1 548 new Covid-19 infections by Tuesday and 71 more Covid-19-related deaths, taking the confirmed death toll to 54 896.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said 71 deaths were recorded. Three were recorded in the Eastern Cape, 23 in the Free State, 16 in Gauteng, five in KwaZulu-Natal, 16 in the Northern Cape and eight in the Western Cape.

As of Tuesday, the country recorded a total of 1 599 272 Covid-19 cases.

KwaZulu-Natal recorded the most confirmed active cases with 5 492, followed by Gauteng with 4 881 and the Free State with 4 476.

NUM rails against Eskom's claims on average staff salary

The National Union of Mineworkers has disputed claims by Eskom in a statement that the average salary of an Eskom employee stood at R737 000 per annum, contending that employees negotiating their salaries at a bargaining unit could not earn more than R650 460.

The union said the R737 000 figure was a show of bad faith from Eskom.

A statement from NUM's negotiators lamented what they called an "apartheid wage gap" at the power utility.

The NUM is currently negotiating wages with Eskom and says its members at the power utility demand a 15% wage increase.

Eskom highlights financial limitations as it mulls industrial applications for discounted tariffs

Meanwhile, Eskom confirms that it has been approached by customers in various industrial sectors with regard to possible applications for discounted Negotiated Pricing Agreements, but says its weak financial position prevents widespread implementation.

The first Negotiated Pricing Agreements submitted under a recently approved government framework for such deals is currently serving before the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, which has called for stakeholder comment on a proposed ten-year Negotiated Pricing Agreements for South32’s Hillside Aluminium smelter, in KwaZulu-Natal.

The Negotiated Pricing Agreements are intended for electricity intensive customers specifically in the industrial and mining sectors that meet the qualification criteria stipulated in the frameworks, including having minimum consumption thresholds of 80 GWh and/or load factors greater than 70%.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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