News 06:00

BULLETIN 4 June 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The EFF says taxation must be subject to a vote in Parliament
# Tongaat Hulett appoints a new CEO
# And tennis: It’s Swiatek against Sabalenka for a place in the French Open final

# The EFF says it will use its parliamentary presence to introduce necessary amendments to prevent National Treasury from imposing taxation without proper democratic oversight in the future. This comes after the Western Cape High Court dismissed the party’s urgent application to prevent the fuel levy increase with costs. The increase of 16-cents per litre for petrol and 15-cents per litre for diesel has come into effect. The EFF Omphile Maotwe says any taxation must be subject to a vote of members of Parliament:

# MK Party’s Floyd Shivambu has pledged to use his new role in Parliament to help strengthen the party ahead of next year’s local government and 2029 general elections. His redeployment follows a disciplinary decision over an unauthorised trip to Malawi, visiting fugitive Shepherd Bushiri’s church in April. It comes amid reports of growing tension between him and former president Jacob Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla. Shivambu called the move a humbling responsibility:

# Tongaat Hulett has appointed Gavin Dalgleish as CEO to lead the final phase of its business rescue plan. Dalgleish, known for his experience in sugar sector turnarounds, will support the company’s transition to its new owners, the Vision Group. His leadership is expected to ensure stability and continuity. Tongaat says the business rescue plan is progressing well, with all lender obligations settled and asset transfers nearing completion.

# Gauteng Finance and Economic Development MEC Lebogang Maile says the government needs a raft of measures to turn around supply chain management and general financial management in the province. He re-tabled the provincial budget for the 2025/2026 financial year on Tuesday, with revenue increasing from 171.5-billion-rand to 172.3-billion-rand. Changes had to be made to bring it in line with amended national allocations. Maile says 50-million-rand has been allocated to the office of the premier for the second phase of the Nasi Ispani programme:

# South Africa’s Trade Department and Lesotho’s Ministry of Trade have agreed to deepen trade and investment cooperation. The agreement follows a Pretoria meeting during Lesotho’s week-long study mission on trade frameworks. Key areas of collaboration include indigenous plants, cross-border value chains, and leveraging trade agreements like pacts between SADC and the European Union. Both sides also committed to advancing the African Continental Free Trade Area, with a focus on sectors like textiles, automotive, cosmetics, and agriculture.

# Tennis: Triple-defending champion Iga Swiatek marched into the semi-finals at Roland Garros with a straight-sets victory over 13th seed Elina Svitolina. Swiatek beat the former world number three 6-1, 7-5 to continue her bid to equal a 102-year record by winning four successive French Open titles. The Polish fifth seed will face world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals after the Belarusian earlier beat Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the quarter-finals. The rivals have never met at Roland Garros, but Swiatek emerged the victor in their last two meetings on clay.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-85-cents and the euro at 20-rand-30-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-13-cents and Bitcoin trades at 105-thousand-529-dollar-40-cents. Gold sells at three-thousand-361-dollars-7-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-64-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….