News 11:00

BULLETIN 25 February 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The cabinet has reportedly rejected minister Godongwana’s revised budget
# A request for former US president Joe Biden to be probed for aiding Gaza war crimes
# And motorsport: MotoGP champion Martin has to undergo another operation and will miss the season-opener

# Cabinet has reportedly rejected Finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s revised budget, which excludes the proposed two-percent value-added tax increase, labelling it unworkable. Yesterday’s special cabinet meeting was aimed at ironing out differences among parties in the government of national unity over the postponed budget. According to News24, items that could be cut from the budget include 23-billion-rand for a salary increase of 5.5-percent, and over 29-billion-rand to hire unemployed doctors. A cabinet sub-committee chaired by deputy president Paul Mashatile has been established to look at possible options.

The SACP meanwhile calls for increased funding to the South African Revenue Service to recover the 800-billion-rand lost in tax revenue annually. The party rejects a VAT hike and urges stricter controls on illicit financial flows and profit shifting. They are planning mass action when the budget returns to Parliament next month. The SACP’s Alex Mashilo says the budget should support the working class, fund National Health Insurance, and fix state-owned businesses.

# The DA in Gauteng says premier Panyaza Lesufi’s state of the province address was full of empty promises, instead of practical solutions to the multiple challenges faced by residents. Lesufi highlighted 13 crucial pressure points needed to rehabilitate the province, including unemployment, crime, and ailing infrastructure. The DA’s provincial leader, Solly Msimanga, says Lesufi has failed to acknowledge that the 13 issues confronting Gauteng are problems created by the ANC:

# US-based non-profit organisation, Democracy for the Arab World Now, has urged the International Criminal Court to investigate former president Joe Biden for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The group also wants former secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and former Defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, investigated for abetting Israeli war crimes. DAWN’s executive director, Sarah Leah Whitson, says the officials have violated articles of the Rome Statute and the ICC’s founding charter in their support for Israel:

# Motorsport: MotoGP world champion, Jorge Martin, will miss this weekend’s first race of the season, the Grand Prix of Thailand, after suffering a new injury during training in his home country. The 27-year-old Spaniard had undergone surgery earlier this month after breaking his right hand and foot in a crash in Malaysia. Martin’s new Aprilia team says he now fractured his left hand during a training session and will undergo surgery in Barcelona today. The recovery time will be assessed post-surgery.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-38-cents and the euro at 19-rand-24-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-20-cents and Bitcoin trades at 91-thousand-267-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-936-dollars-20-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-54-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….