News 14:00

BULLETIN 12 May 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Tiger Brands offers to settle the claims of certain claimants in the listeriosis class action
# US, China agree on temporary cut in controversial duties
# And soccer: Ruben Amorim insists he should leave Man United if he can’t change the culture

# Tiger Brands has confirmed that the attorneys representing its lead re-insurer have presented a settlement offer to the plaintiffs’ attorneys as part of a possible overall resolution of the listeriosis class action. A total of one-thousand-and-60 listeriosis cases were reported between January 2017 until July 2018. Tiger Brands says it is offering payment for claimants who contracted listeriosis caused by ST6, those dependents whose breadwinners died of listeriosis caused by ST6 and claimants whose legal dependents, who were in their care, contracted listeriosis caused by ST6.

# Finance minister Enoch Godongwana has cautioned against implementing a wealth tax, stating it could jeopardise seven-billion-rand in annual income tax from approximately two-thousand-850 high-net-worth individuals. These individuals, each possessing over 50-million-rand in assets, contribute significantly to the nation’s revenue. Godongwana emphasised that introducing such a tax might prompt these taxpayers to relocate, thereby eroding the tax base. He advocates for alternative measures to enhance revenue without risking capital flight.

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse says the driving licence crisis is far from over, despite the repair of the old card printing machine. The organisation warns the 27-year-old machine is outdated, prone to frequent breakdowns, lacks modern security features, and must be urgently replaced. OUTA’s Stefanie Fick says a backlog of over 747-thousand cards remain, and concerns persist over a 900-million-rand tender awarded to French firm IDEMIA, which the Auditor-General found to be irregular:

# The United States and China have agreed to temporarily slash their tit-for-tat tariffs, with the US rate down to 30-percent and Chinese duties cut to to 10-percent. Following a weekend of trade talks in Geneva, US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer told reporters the sides had agreed to temporarily roll back reciprocal tariffs by 115-percentage points for a 90-day period.

# Soccer: Manchester United’s manager, Ruben Amorim, has suggested that he should be replaced if he is not capable of changing the culture at the club next season. The Reds suffered a 2-0 defeat to West Ham at Old Trafford in the Premier League last night. They have 39 points and are 16th on the table, and are heading for their worst tally since their 1930/31 relegation campaign. Amorim says he is embarrassed about his side’s performances in the competition:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-29-cents and the euro at 20-rand-30-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-11-cents and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-250-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-214-dollars-12-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-43-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….