News 07:00

BULLETIN 12 March 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The IMF says South Africa needs a more ambitious fiscal consolidation
# AfriForum urges the Finance minister to reject the ANC’s push for tax increases
# And a man is arrested for gross negligence following the North Sea disaster

# The International Monetary Fund says that to safeguard South Africa’s financial sustainability, a more ambitious fiscal consolidation is needed to put debt on a firmly downward path. This comes as Finance minister Enoch Godongwana is expected to table the budget in Parliament today. IMF representative to SA, Tidiane Kinda, spoke at a webinar hosted by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection on Tuesday. He has suggested that the government reduce state-owned enterprise operating costs through reforms:

Meanwhile, AfriForum urges Godongwana to resist the ANC’s push for tax increases in his budget speech today. The civil rights organisation, along with economists and business leaders, are calling for cuts in government spending rather than tax hikes. AfriForum’s Louis Boshoff calls for downsizing the cabinet, reducing government officials’ salaries, cutting wasteful expenses, and privatising state-owned enterprises to relieve the taxpayers’ burden:

# The Public Servants Association is alarmed that all provincial health departments, except the Western Cape, owe the National Health Laboratory Service nearly nine-billion-rand. The PSA warns that the laboratory service, which serves over 80-percent of the population, is struggling with financial strain, staff shortages, and budget cuts, putting essential services like antivenom production and HIV treatment for one-million patients at risk. The association’s Claude Naiker urges Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi to intervene.

# The EFF in Gauteng is calling for the immediate suspension and criminal prosecution of Lesedi Municipality municipal manager, Sibusiso Dhlamini. He is allegedly accused of sexual harassment and abuse of power against a junior staff member. The EFF’s Dumisani Baleni says Dhlamini fabricated allegations against the victim and attempted to use them as grounds for her dismissal. He says this is even after the Bargaining Council ruled the allegations were unfounded and unfair:

# A 59-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision between a cargo ship and an oil tanker off the British coast in the North Sea on Monday. The Portuguese-flagged Solong cargo ship collided with the US-registered Stena Immaculate, which was transporting fuel on behalf of the US military. One crew member died, and 36 were rescued. The UK’s Humberside Police say that a criminal investigation into the cause of the collision is now underway.

# Cricket: The Proteas Women will compete in a One-Day International Tri-Series against Sri Lanka and India in Colombo next month. This will be an important preparation for the World Cup in India later this year. The tour will also mark South Africa’s first trip to Sri Lanka since the 2017 World Cup Qualifiers, in which the Proteas lost by one wicket to India in the final. Coach Mandla Mashimbyi says the tour will allow them to check which combinations work best for the conditions.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-23-cents and the euro at 19-rand-89-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-59-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-311-dollar-10-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-915-dollars-27-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 69-dollars-87-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….