For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lumkile Nkomfe.

Making headlines: DA petition gets over 200 000 signatures against Eskom's proposed 40% increase; Parts of Jhb face weekend water cuts as Eikenhof substation to undergo repairs; And, Africa grapples with forecasting challenge as weather disasters loom

DA petition gets over 200 000 signatures against Eskom's proposed 40% increase

The Democratic Alliance has submitted the first batch of over 200 000 signatures, on its petition against Eskom's proposed 40% price hike, to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, describing it as a powerful call from South Africans for urgent action on the ongoing energy crisis.

The DA protested outside Nersa's offices in Pretoria, today. Party spokesperson on energy and electricity Kevin Mileham explained that the petition signalled the “frustration and fatigue” of South Africans facing the economic and social impacts of high electricity prices, a cost-of-living crisis, a recent history of loadshedding and unreliable power supply in hundreds of municipalities.

Mileham highlighted that the party had been inundated with residents opposing “the ridiculous tariff hike”.

He pointed out that the DA’s petition amplified the voices of citizens who were demanding accountability and transparency from Nersa to reject Eskom's application for an effective 40% price hike next year.

Parts of Jhb face weekend water cuts as Eikenhof substation to undergo repairs

Power and water utilities City Power, Johannesburg Water and Rand Water have advised that an emergency power outage will be implemented at the Eikenhof substation from 08:00 to 16:00 on Sunday and that it will impact on the supply of water in parts of Johannesburg.

The outage is necessary for City Power to make urgent repairs to, and conduct maintenance at, the substation, where a recent assessment found defects, including hot connections on the two transformers that supply power to Rand Water.

The Eikenhof substation powers Rand Water's Eikenhof pumping station, which, in turn, supplies some of Johannesburg Water's reservoirs and provides water to residents across Johannesburg.

As a result of the emergency work, Rand Water will experience a significant impact on its pumping capacity. This, in turn, will impact on a number of Johannesburg Water's systems, including in Soweto, Randburg and Roodepoort, Commando (Brixton, Crosby and Hursthill), Lenasia and parts of Johannesburg Central, including the Eagles Nest, Crown Gardens, Aeroton and Alan Manor reservoirs.

And, Africa grapples with forecasting challenge as weather disasters loom

The deputy director of Chad's National Meteorological Agency waggled his finger up and down to demonstrate how a motionless humidity gauge at the agency's headquarters should have been working.

The broken hygrothermograph was among the dustblown outdoor equipment in the capital N'Djamena that is meant to help the agency known as ANAM to track weather patterns.

The situation in Chad is replicated across much of Africa, a continent sorely lacking the reliable forecasts that are a keystone of disaster management as climate change makes extreme weather more frequent.

At COP29 climate talks, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for urgent action to overcome a shortage of data and funding. The aim is to meet a target for universal protection by end-2027 from early warning systems to help preparation for extreme weather events.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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