News 06:00
BULLETIN 29 April 6 am
Good morning. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# The EFF hails the suspension of the VAT increase by the Western Cape High Court
# The Border Management Authority registers over one-million movements across the country’s ports of entry
# And there are no indications that the power outage in Spain and Portugal was a cyber-attack
# The EFF has welcomed the Western Cape High Court’s decision to suspend the 0.5-percent value-added tax increase, preventing the tax hike from taking effect on Thursday. This decision was in response to a legal challenge brought by the DA and the EFF, which contested both the VAT rate adjustment, and the resolutions by the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces endorsing the Finance committees’ reports. EFF leader Julius Malema says the suspension of the VAT increase was necessary:
# Border Management Authority commissioner Michael Masiapato says during the 2025 Easter period, they registered over one-milion movements across the country’s 71 ports of entry. This is an increase of eight-percent compared to the 2024 Easter period where they registered about 974-thousand-729. Masiapato says this upward trend highlights the growing demand for cross-border travel in the post-Covid-19 period:
# Trade, Industry, and Competition minister, Parks Tau, has extended the deadline for public comments on the Draft Transformation Fund Concept Document. The extension is until the 28 of next month, from the original date of 7 May. In March, the Minister announced the publication of the concept document for a 30-day public commentary period. Tau says the fund aims to aggregate Enterprise and Supplier Development funds in support of the participation, transformation, and sustainability of black-owned enterprises in the economy.
# The Gauteng Department of Education is working urgently to ensure that learning at Riverlea High School continues with minimal disruption when schooling resumes next week on Monday. The department says eleven classrooms were gutted by fire on Sunday evening and rapidly spread, destroying the entire block of classrooms. The Education Department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona says approximately 230 learners are directly impacted by the aftermath of the fire:
# European Council president António Costa says there are no clear indications of sabotage or a cyber-attack after large parts of Spain and Portugal experienced major power outages on Monday. The outages shut off traffic lights caused chaos at travel hubs, and cancelled all tennis matches at the Madrid Open. The Portuguese electricity operator says the outage was caused by a rare atmospheric phenomenon related to temperature variations. It adds that the network could take up to a week to normalise again fully.
# Cricket: Proteas Women captain Laura Wolvaardt says they are confident heading into the Tri-Series ODI against Sri Lanka and India in Colombo. There are three ODI debutants in the squad, 17-year-old wicketkeeper batter Karabo Meso, is joined by spin bowling allrounders Seshnie Naidu and Miane Smit. South Africa’s opening game is against India today. Wolvaardt says they had good preparation for the tournament, especially getting used to the conditions and the heat.
# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-49-cents and the euro at 21-rand-10-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-976-dollar-10-cents. Gold sells at three-thousand-335-dollars-45-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-79-cents a barrel.
Stay tuned for more news………….