News 09:00

BULLETIN 15 November 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Government departments owe municipalities about 29.4-billion-rand
# The DA in Tshwane says the metro cannot enter into commitments that will hamstring progress
# And Italy exposes a mafia-linked crime ring carrying out VAT fraud in Europe  

# Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, is urging government departments to settle their municipal debt. Government departments owe municipalities about 29.4-billion-rand. Answering questions in Parliament, Hlabisa says his department aims to ensure that financial recovery plans for municipalities prioritise long-term sustainability and are effectively implemented:

# The Competition Tribunal has granted the Cancer Alliance the right to intervene as a participant in the excessive pricing case against Switzerland-based multinational healthcare company, Roche Holdings AG and its subsidiaries. The Competition Commission complained to the Competition Tribunal alleging that Roche violated the Competition Act by charging excessive pricing for Trastuzumab. This is a life-saving treatment for an aggressive type of breast cancer. The commission also alleges that the excessive prices constitute a violation of basic human rights, including access to healthcare.

# The DA in Tshwane says deputy mayor Eugene Modise needs to prioritise the financial recovery of the metro when negotiating to settle historical wage disputes with trade unions. The party’s, Jacqui Uys, says the financial performance of the metro for the first quarter of the financial year, under the DA government, showed improvement. She says the administration needs to build on this momentum and not enter into financial commitments that will hamstring the progress:

# Italian investigators have broken up a mafia-linked crime ring carrying out VAT fraud in Europe, issuing around 40 arrest warrants and seizing goods worth 10-billion-rand. A judge in Milan ordered the crackdown on the ring for cross-border Value-Added Tax fraud via the sale of computer and IT equipment, and for laundering the profits. Police in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland as well as the United Arab Emirates are also carrying out raids and seizing goods in connection with the case.

# Cricket: England defeated the West Indies by three wickets in the third T20 at St Lucia, to take an unassailable three-nil lead in the five-match series. Despite captain Rovman Powell scoring an impressive 54, the home side were restricted to 145 for eight in their 20 overs. Saqib Mahmood and Jamie Overton took three wickets each. In reply, the visitors slipped to 37 for three in the powerplay but Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone helped lead the recovery. England reached the target with four balls to spare.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-23-cents and the euro at 19-rand-22-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-11-cents and Bitcoin trades at 87-thousand-563-dollars-9-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-568-dollars-17-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-15-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….