News 07:00

BULLETIN 27 March 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The MK Party refutes claims of negotiations with the ANC over the budget
# The Consumer Confidence Index drops dramatically in the first quarter of 2025
# And the US Intelligence chief admits adding a journalist to a group chat was a mistake

# MK Party secretary general, Floyd Shivambu, has refuted claims of bilateral engagements with the ANC on the budget. The ANC is seeking the support of opposition parties to ensure the budget is passed in Parliament next week. At the heart of the refusal by most parties to vote for the budget is the 0.5 percentage point increase in value-added tax proposal. Shivambu says they will reject the adoption of a budget that will be used to marginalise the poor further:

# FNB and Stellenbosch University’s Bureau for Economic Research says consumer confidence dropped dramatically in the first quarter of this year. The proposed VAT hike and no adjustments in tax brackets for individuals weighed on sentiment as well as the souring of diplomatic relations between South Africa and the US. The 14-point plunge in the index is on par with the drop when SA entered stage 6 load-shedding for the first time in the first quarter of 2023. The first quarter reading of minus-20 is also the lowest since the first half of 2023.

# The DA in Tshwane says the ANC-led government’s proposed metro budget aims to supplement its income from higher property tax due to a new valuations roll and introduce a new tax. The new tax is in the form of a city cleansing levy. The DA’s, Jacqui Uys, says this will harm especially poorer and middle-class households. She adds that they have three proposals to ease the tax burden on residents:

# Public Works and Infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson will open the first quarter Minister and MECs meeting today in Polokwane, Limpopo. The gathering, attended by all nine provinces, will review the state of infrastructure and adopt plans to boost economic growth and job creation. Ahead of the meeting, officials will visit the Limpopo Theatre construction site at Bakone Malapa Open-Air Museum for an oversight inspection.

# US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, says the inclusion of a journalist in a high-level chat about air strike plans was a mistake, but reiterated that no classified information was shared. The Atlantic has published more messages from the group chat, in which the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added. The messages reveal that specific sensitive information about strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen was discussed. Gabbard told the House Intelligence Committee that an investigation is underway:

# Rugby: Blitzboks head coach Philip Snyman and captain Selvyn Davids hope for special birthday presents in Hong Kong this weekend. Snyman celebrated his 38th birthday and Davids his 31st yesterday while they are preparing for the world sevens tournament in the Asian city. Davids, who made his Blitzboks debut in Hong Kong in 2017, says they want to change the fact that they’ve never won the tournament. The Blitzboks, who are currently fourth on the log, play Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay in Pool B this weekend.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-24-cents and the euro at 19-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-52-cents and Bitcoin trades at 87-thousand-207-dollar-10-cents. Gold sells at three-thousand-27-dollars-21-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-89-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….