News 07:00

BULLETIN 2 April 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA says ActionSA has sold out South Africa
# The EFF says the adoption of the fiscal framework report is flawed
# And AfriForum urges international sanctions against Julius Malema

# The DA claims that ActionSA has made a deal with the ANC to pass a one-percent value-added tax hike over the next two years. This is despite ActionSA releasing a statement saying that it has been able to remove the recommendation in the fiscal framework report of a 0.5-percentage point increase in VAT. The DA’s, Willie Aucamp, says they fought and negotiated for a budget that would have created growth and jobs, cut the waste in government, and stopped VAT hikes:

Meanwhile, the EFF has described the process by which Parliament’s standing committee on Finance adopted the fiscal framework report as deeply flawed, incoherent and illegal. The party says the committee adopted proposals that include a 0.5-percent value-added tax increase. The EFF’s spokesperson, Sinawo Thambo, says ActionSA has misled South Africans by claiming that their request for the scrapping of the VAT increase is reflected in the adopted report:

# AfriForum is calling on the international community to impose sanctions on EFF leader Julius Malema for alleged human rights violations linked to the Kill the Boer chant. AfriForum says South Africa’s courts have failed to hold Malema accountable. CEO Kallie Kriel says AfriForum is compiling a dossier on Malema’s alleged incitement of violence, which will be presented to global governments to push for punitive action:

# The Western Cape Education Department MEC David Maynier has called for more gender-based violence awareness in schools following a reported incident in the Eastern Cape. A 7-year-old girl was raped last October in a classroom at the Bergview College independent school in Matatiele. Maynier calls on anyone aware of abuse in Western Cape schools to report it to SAPS or the Safe Schools hotline:

# The US Justice Department is seeking the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting dead UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December last year. The 26-year-old was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on eleven counts, including one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree, along with other weapons and forgery charges. Mangione is facing state and federal charges. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, has called the murder of Thompson a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.

# Cricket: The Punjab Kings recorded back-to-back wins following an eight-wicket victory over the Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League. Arshdeep Singh claimed four wickets as LSG were restricted to 171 for seven in their 20 overs. In reply, Prabhsimran Singh top scored with 69 off 34 balls while captain Shreyas Iyer contributed with an unbeaten 52 as Punjab reached the target in 16.2 overs. This is LSG’s second defeat in three games. Today, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru will face the Gujarat Titans.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-49-cents and the euro at 19-rand-95-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-88-cents and Bitcoin trades at 85-thousand-121-dollar-10-cents. Gold sells at three-thousand-133-dollars-62-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-42-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….