News 08:00

BULLETIN 13 March 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Edward Kieswetter welcomes the additional funds to clamp down on debt
# Zelenskyy warns his partners not to let Russia deceive them
# And cricket: It will be the Dolphins vs Boland in the One Day Cup final

# South African Revenue Service Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, has welcomed the additional funding in the national budget, saying the money will be used to pursue debt owed to the organisation and all outstanding returns. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana has allocated SARS an additional 7.5-billion-rand to clamp down on debt and modernise its systems. Kieswetter says roughly 800-billion-rand in uncollected revenue is owed to the revenue service:

Meanwhile, Build One South Africa says instead of making budget cuts to unnecessary spending, the government has decided to squeeze the dwindling tax base for an extra 28-billion-rand in tax revenue this year. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana delivered his revised budget on Wednesday, revealing a hike in value-added tax by 0.5 percentage points for the next two years. BOSA leader, Mmusi Maimane, says the government could have saved 76-billion-rand by making the right cuts:

# The National Police Commissioner, Fannie Masemola, has welcomed the arrest of a convicted prisoner who escaped from the Maputo Maximum prison when Mozambique experienced unrest in December 2024. Nelson Simiao Massango escaped along with more than a thousand other prisoners. According to reports, he was convicted of murder in 2015 and sentenced to at least 20 years. Police spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe, says Massango was arrested at a car hire dealership in Sandton, Gauteng:

# President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Ukraine’s partners to make sure Russia does not deceive them over a ceasefire but to genuinely end the war. Ukraine agreed to an immediate 30-day ceasefire following a highly anticipated meeting with American officials in Saudi Arabia earlier this week. US officials are reportedly headed to Russia to discuss the ceasefire with president Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy says work is continuing on the diplomatic front to ensure that all necessary conditions are swiftly in place to apply pressure on Russia to achieve real peace.

# Cricket: The Dolphins have booked their place in the One Day Cup final after beating the Titans by 65 runs in the qualifier in Durban. An 86-run stand between Hanu Viljoen and Eathan Bosch helped the Dolphins post 228 for eight in their 50 overs. Andile Phehlukwayo took four wickets. In reply, Keshav Maharaj and Tristan Luus were the stars of the Dolphins’ attack, taking three wickets each as the Titans were bowled out for 163. The Dolphins will face Boland in Sunday’s final in Paarl.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-31-cents and the euro at 19-rand-94-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-74-cents and Bitcoin trades at 84-thousand-5-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-944-dollars-93-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-66-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….