News 09:00

BULLETIN 22 April 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Western Cape High Court will today hear the DA and EFF’s challenge to the VAT hike
# The MK Party visited the white Afrikaans-only settlement of Kleinfontein
# And Harvard University is suing the Trump administration

# The Western Cape High Court is expected to hear an urgent application from the DA and the EFF today, seeking to interdict the pending 0.5-percent value-added tax increase. The parties are challenging the legality of the VAT hike announced in March, as part of the revised fiscal framework. The EFF’s treasurer-general, Omphile Maotwe, says for too long, the legislative process has been abused by the ANC that uses its numerical dominance to pass budgets without proper scrutiny or debate:

Meanwhile, ActionSA has accused the DA of hypocrisy over the controversial two-percent VAT increase despite its public opposition. According to ActionSA’s Alan Beesley, DA national Finance spokesperson Ashor Sarupen was involved in drafting the original budget speech that included the VAT hike. Beesley claims the DA’s actions are politically motivated to gain influence within the government of national unity as they head to court today:

# The MK Party believes the community of Kleinfontein near Pretoria is trying to create another white Afrikaner enclave like Orania. The party led by chief whip Mzwanele Manyi visited the white Afrikaans-only settlement on Monday in a fact-finding mission. Last year, the High Court in Pretoria declared Kleinfontein illegal due to the City of Tshwane’s municipality zoning regulations. Manyi told Newzroom Afrika that white Afrikaans-only places like Orania and Kleinfontein could be potentially abusing section 235 of the Constitution:

# Harvard University has launched a lawsuit against president Donald Trump’s administration. This comes after the administration recently froze around 41.4-billion-rand in multi-year grants for the university after it defied demands made by the government including shutting down all its diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes. Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, says this case involves the government’s efforts to use the withholding of federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decision-making. He adds that Harvard will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.

# Soccer: Burnley and Leeds have secured automatic promotion to the English Premier League for next season. Captain Josh Brownhill’s first-half double saw Burnley beat Sheffield United 2-1 to seal the Clarets’ immediate return to the Premier League. Leeds thrashed Stoke City 6-0 as they secured their return to the top flight two seasons after suffering relegation. The two teams each have 94 points and neither can now be caught by third-placed Sheffield United, who will be heading into the Championship play-offs.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-66-cents and the euro at 21-rand-52-cents. One British pound costs 25-rand-1-cent and Bitcoin trades at 88-thousand-279-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-482-dollars-9-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-72-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….