News 08:00

BULLETIN 23 May 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Scopa chairperson says the state will collapse if taxes never increase
# The National Lotteries Commission is going to appeal the judgment on the lottery licence
# And Donald Trump halts international enrolments for Harvard

# Parliament’s standing committee on Finance chairperson, Joe Maswanganyi, has warned against the promotion of populist agendas, including opposition to tax policy. This comes as some political parties have rejected the fuel levy increase announced by Finance minister Enoch Godongwana in his amended budget this week. The fuel levy increase is to fund the budget shortfall in this financial year, following the scrapping of the value-added tax hike. Maswanganyi says taxation enables the government to fund essential public goods:

# The National Lotteries Commission’s board has resolved to appeal the judgment regarding the appointment of a new operator of the National Lottery. The High Court in Pretoria has ordered minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, to determine the successful applicant for the fourth national lottery licence by no later than May 28. This is after Tau’s decision to issue a request for proposal for a 12-month temporary licence was declared unlawful. NLC chairperson Barney Pityana says a new operator can’t take over operations in five months. 

# The Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, has strongly condemned the recent resurgence of taxi violence across parts of the province. In recent weeks, violent incidents, including the killings of taxi drivers and marshals, have continued to take lives and disrupt services in the taxi industry. The department’s spokesperson, Lesiba Mpya, says these acts of violence undermine the gains made by the government in fostering a safer public transport environment in the province:

# The US Department of Homeland Security has revoked Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Programme certification, meaning it cannot enroll international students. Existing international students at the university have been ordered to transfer or lose their legal status. The Trump administration has for months demanded that Harvard change its hiring, admissions and teaching practices to root out on-campus antisemitism. Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, told Fox News that international students make up about 27-percent of the university’s population:

# Soccer: Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has named a 41-member preliminary squad for next month’s international friendlies against Tanzania and an as-yet-unnamed second opponent. Broos has called up several new faces, including Orlando Pirates sensation Mbekezeli Mbokazi, his teammate Simphiwe Selepe, and Kaizer Chiefs youngster Mduduzi Shabalala. The matches will serve as crucial preparation for Bafana Bafana’s upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers in September and October. The preliminary squad will be trimmed to 23 players in the coming days.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-95-cents and the euro at 20-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-14-cents and Bitcoin trades at 111-thousand-176-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-299-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-56-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….