Morning Brief – Friday, 7 October 2022

Good morning. Here are the top stories you need to know today:

• Zuma would have been released today had he served his full 15-month prison sentence
• Eskom says coal suppliers are trying to swindle the power utility.
• Airline tickets are soaring with short-notice travel fetching a premium price

Politically weak and inconsequential Jacob Zuma free again — for now

Had former president Jacob Zuma served his full 15-month jail sentence after he was found in contempt of court for failing to appear before the State Capture Commission, he would have left prison today. As of today, Zuma will not have to account to the department of correctional services, and he will be able to attend public events again. Daily Maverick has compiled an analysis of Zuma and details how the former president is trying to make a political comeback but has no political capital left to speak of, even his supporters have started to turn on him. (Daily Maverick)

De Ruyter: Unscrupulous suppliers are cheating Eskom with bad coal

Eskom CEO André de Ruyter says the soaring price of coal has seen corrupt suppliers swindle Eskom out of the high-grade quality coal that it needs in favour of exporting the coal to Europe – where it can fetch a handsome price due to high demand. “What we have found is that, particularly now with the arbitrage created between export coal and the coal that Eskom buys, that there is a three times multiple that you can get by effectively stealing Eskom’s coal, replacing it with discard coal … and our coal then gets exported to Europe.” (News24)

Price of plane tickets goes sky high

If you’re thinking of taking a summer holiday to Cape Town or elsewhere in the country, you may be in for a shock if you haven’t already booked your plane tickets. The price of tickets has skyrocketed following the collapse of Comair, which took down low-cost carrier kulula.com and the local British Airways franchise. Other factors driving up the cost of plane tickets include rising fuel costs, the war in Ukraine, and the weak rand as airlines pay for fuel against a dollar price. Mail & Guardian reports a one-way ticket to Johannesburg bought on short notice is going for more than R3,000 while on some carries the price is over R5,000. Be sure to book in advance if you want a lower price. (Mail & Guardian)