News 18:00

BULLETIN 25 February 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA rejects the tax hike and calls for the budget to focus on growth and jobs
# The National Dialogue will include traditional and Khoi-San leaders and focus on shared prosperity
# And cricket: Pakistan’s exit from the Champions Trophy receives a major local backlash

# The DA is calling for the revised 2025 budget to prioritise growth and job creation over tax increases. The DA’s spokesperson on Finance, Mark Burke, argues that the 60-billion-rand shortfall can be covered by cutting wasteful government spending rather than taxing citizens. The party proposes cost-cutting measures, economic reforms, and better tax compliance to boost revenue. Burker insists that South Africa has a spending prioritisation problem, urging the government to reject new tax hikes.

# At the annual opening of the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders, president Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the leaders will be involved in the upcoming national dialogue. The focus will be on creating a shared vision for South Africa’s future and promoting prosperity for all. Ramaphosa said it is crucial to engage all communities, particularly those in rural areas, to ensure every voice is heard:

# ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has announced the party’s reconfigured KwaZulu-Natal leadership. The new top six leaders are Mike Mabuyakhulu, Jeff Radebe, Siboniso Duma, Weziwe Thusi, Nomagugu Simelane, and Nomusa Dube-Ncube. In a media briefing at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in eThekwini, Mbalula said the new leadership will succeed the previous provincial team which managed the party’s performance during last year’s general elections when ANC support in the region dropped dramatically:

# Cricket: Gloom and demands for wholesale change engulfed cricket-crazy Pakistan after the hosts crashed out of the Champions Trophy, barely a week into celebrating the return of a major tournament. The title-holders lost their opening game to New Zealand by 60 runs in Karachi last week before Sunday’s six-wicket defeat to arch-rivals India pushed them to the brink of an early exit. Pakistan needed Bangladesh to beat New Zealand yesterday to keep their slim hopes of a place in the semi-finals alive, but the result went the other way.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-34-cents and the euro at 19-rand-25-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-23-cents and Bitcoin trades at 88-thousand-640-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-939-dollars-77-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

# And finally: An Artificial Intelligence-generated video of US president Donald Trump sucking Elon Musk’s feet was shown inside the headquarters of a US government department, prompting an investigation. The video was briefly played on screens at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development yesterday. An inscription that read “Long Live the Real King” was superimposed over the video, referencing a message Trump posted on his Truth Social platform to celebrate his government’s nixing of the New York City congestion pricing plan.

Stay tuned for more news………….