Update as at 16h30 SAST
Speaker of Parliament to Face First Motion of No Confidence
National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is set to face her first motion of no confidence on March 7, 2023. The date was set today by the National Assembly's programme committee, after the Economic Freedom Fighters lodged a complaint against her, following the State of the Nation Address on February 9, 2023 at which the EFF were removed from the venue after storming the stage during President Cyril Ramaphosa's address.
Miners Trapped at Sibanye Mine, Eskom Blames Theft and Vandalism
Power utility Eskom has warned of the effect of theft and vandalism to its infrastructure after power lines at Sibanye-Stillwater mine collapsed, causing an outage that left mineworkers trapped underground, reports Mail & Guardian. In a statement, Eskom said it had dispatched a team of technicians to restore supply to the gold mine where workers were unable to resurface. It did not say for how long the miners were stuck underground. Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted confirmed the interruption but said generators quickly kicked in, reports TimesLive. Mashangu Xivambu, Eskom's maintenance and operations senior manager in Gauteng, said Eskom had "recently reported that vandalism and theft have extended to include pylons whose tower members are often stolen by unscrupulous criminal elements, resulting in the steel structures collapsing".
South Africans Warned That Tropical Cyclone Freddy May Hit Parts of the Country
Parts of South Africa are likely to feel the impact of a tropical storm this weekend. Provinces recovering from widespread flooding have been warned to brace for more downpours,reports News24. Parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal are expected to be the worst affected by Cyclone Freddy. South Africa is still recovering from floods that have affected large parts of the country. The government recently announced a national state of disaster in response to the floods.
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Lion On The Loose
A lioness has escaped while being transported in North West province. Police spokesperson Captain Aafje Botma said the lioness escaped while in transit in a container on the back of a truck on the Beesdam road between Stella and Tlakgameng on Wednesday morning. The owner only realised that she escaped when he reached his destination in Tlakgameng. Nature reserve workers and farmers are on the lookout for the animal, reports News24. In January, a tiger named Sheba escaped from an enclosure at Walkers Fruit Farms and was found nearby. The tiger was killed when found, as it had killed a dog, and attacked a man who was walking about a kilometre away from the farm.
