News 15:00

BULLETIN 6 October 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# AfriForum investigates the fuel levies
# The Gauteng Health Department dismisses reports of a medical bill for a two-year-old at Steve Biko Hospital
# And cricket: The ICC delays plans for a World Club Championship following resistance from England, Australia, and India

# AfriForum is launching an investigation into South Africa’s fuel levies, citing government inaction. Spokesperson Ernst van Zyl says its research team will examine the general fuel levy, carbon levy and Road Accident Fund levy, including how the money is calculated and spent. He emphasised rising fuel prices are increasing financial pressure on consumers, businesses and the economy, yet Finance minister Enoch Godongwana has not confirmed an independent audit:

Meanwhile, ActionSA is calling on Godongwana to urgently review and reduce the fuel levy to provide relief. The party’s Alan Beesley says higher fuel prices increase the cost of transporting people and goods, pushing up food and basic service costs while squeezing small businesses and household budgets. He says SARS collected just over two-trillion-rand in net revenue in 2025/26, 24.7-billion-rand above its estimate, creating scope for temporary relief. ActionSA says the measure could help ease the pressure.

# The Gauteng Health Department says reports regarding the medical costs associated with the treatment of a two-year-old boy at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, are incorrect. The child is classified under the Hospital Group category. The department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, says under standard public health regulations in South Africa, all children under the age of six are fully exempt from paying medical and hospital costs:

Moving abroad:

# Australia’s opposition Liberal-National Coalition has promised the biggest cut to immigration in the country’s history if it wins government. Opposition leader Angus Taylor says the plan would reduce net overseas migration to 100-thousand a year for the first two years, before rising to 160-thousand in the fourth year. Temporary visas would be cut by 650-thousand over four years, while humanitarian places would be halved to 10-thousand. International student numbers would also be capped, and the temporary graduate visa programme scrapped. The coalition says it will instead prioritise skilled workers.

On to sports news:

# The International Cricket Council has shelved plans to introduce a World Club Championship and additional international multilateral tournaments until at least 2031. This follows resistance from England, Australia, and India, who argue there is no space in the calendar for additional events unless the ICC removes existing tournaments such as World Cups and the Champions Trophy. The ICC’s push to explore new competitions stems from an urgent desire to grow revenues, as global media rights values are expected to decline significantly from next year.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-52-cents and the euro at 18-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-91-cents and Bitcoin trades at 86-thousand-259-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-169-dollars-52-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 101-dollars-43-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….