News 08:00

BULLETIN 14 January 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Treasury welcomes South Africa’s removal from the EU high-risk list
# The DA wants minister Buthelezi to account for the lifestyle audits of public servants
# And, Donald Trump tells Iranian protesters: “Help is on its way.”

# National Treasury has welcomed the removal of South Africa alongside five other African countries from the European Union’s list of High-risk third-country jurisdictions. This follows the country’s delisting from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list, an intergovernmental organisation focused on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. Treasury says, despite South Africa being removed from the two lists, much work still needs to be done to strengthen deficiencies in the prevention, identification, investigation, and prosecution of money laundering and terrorism financing.

# The DA says the minister of Public Service and Administration, Mzamo Buthelezi, must account to Parliament for ongoing lifestyle audits of public officials, without a single referral for any prosecution to date. Nearly nine-thousand senior public servants have undergone lifestyle audits, with 117 officials under internal investigation and 24 cases flagged by the Presidency for suspected undeclared income or hidden assets. The DA’s Eleanore Bouw-Spies says taxpayers cannot be expected to fund corruption-detection processes:

# RISE Mzansi has voiced support for the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill and Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, calling them crucial for a fairer, more efficient tax system. Central to the reforms is the VAT Modernisation Project, aimed at real-time reporting, fraud reduction, and better service delivery. RISE Mzansi’s Makashule Gana says the Bills tighten customs duties on low-value imports and introduce the National Online Gambling Tax. He emphasised that this ensures revenue protection while addressing social harms, supporting education, and strengthening public confidence in the tax system.

# President Donald Trump has called on demonstrators in Iran to keep protesting and promised that help is on its way. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, two-thousand-403 protesters have been killed in Iran since anti-government demonstrations began in late December. The total includes 12 protesters under the age of 18. Trump also warned Iran against executing protesters, following reports that a 26-year-old Iranian protester is set to be executed:

# Cricket: The Paarl Royals secured a record-breaking six-wicket victory against the Durban Super Giants at Boland Park in Paarl, to move up to second in the SA20 standings. The Super Giants posted 186 for five in their 20 overs, with Aiden Markram top-scoring with 66. In reply, Rubin Hermann scored an unbeaten 65 and shared a third-wicket partnership with Dan Lawrence of 106 runs as the Royals completed the highest successful run-chase at Boland Park. The Super Giants remain in fifth place on 14 points.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-35-cents and the euro at 19-rand-4-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-98-cents and Bitcoin trades at 95-thousand-452-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-619-dollars-60-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-87-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….