Cape Town – As you kick start your day, Nokuthula Khwela brings you the country’s biggest stories.

In our top stories:

Eskom group chief executive Andre de Ruyter has left his post with immediate effect after a special board meeting on Wednesday. Eskom, the embattled power utility that has struggled to keep South Africa’s lights on, is now officially without a group chief executive.

Eskom announced in a statement late on last night that Andre de Ruyter would be vacating office with immediate effect.

The special board meeting resolved that De Ruyter would serve as GCEO until February 28, and not March 31 as initially planned, but he would not be required to serve the balance of his notice period.

Read here for more.

In a bid to accommodate the increased number of recipients of the social grants, National Treasury has increased the expenditure on social grants, as it extends the Covid-19 social relief of distress.

According to the 2023 Budget, expenditure on social grants would increase from R233 billion in 2022/23 to R248.4 billion in 2025/26 due to increases in the number of recipients and the value of the grants. In his 2023 Budget speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said R30 billion will be used for inflation-linked increases for other social grants. The old age and disability grants increase by R90 on April 1 and a further R10 on October 1.

For more on this, read here.

The family of Nikita Lewis, who was murdered by an abusive former partner, said they were honoured that the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children (SBCWC) and the Kolisi Foundation decided to name its Serenity Hub after her, ensuring Lewis’s name will always be remembered.

Lewis, 24, had sought assistance at the centre– considered a one-stop centre for women and children survivors of abuse – in 2015, but was murdered a month later on October 9, less than 300m from the centre while on her way to a shop. She was stabbed 34 times.

Source: African News Agency