News 18:00

BULLETIN 1 April 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# SARS collects two-trillion-rand, surpassing the Treasury forecast
# The Public Servants Association calls for stronger government action amid the rising cost-of-living crisis
# And, the DA opposes Gauteng’s budget adjustment as it fails to address the infrastructure crisis

# South Africa’s tax collection for the 2025-26 fiscal year modestly exceeded expectations, despite a weak economic environment. The South African Revenue Service collected about two-trillion-rand in the financial year to March, an increase of 8.4-percent from the previous year and just above the National Treasury’s forecast. SARS commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, says growth was driven by stronger contributions from corporate tax, personal income tax and VAT:

# The Public Servants Association has acknowledged the government’s effort to balance fiscal sustainability with the immediate socio-economic challenges facing South Africans. This comes as government has temporarily reduced the fuel levy by three-rand per litre. PSA’s Claude Naicker says it is deeply concerned that this intervention, while necessary, falls short of addressing the broader and deepening cost-of-living crisis:

# The DA in Gauteng has opposed the 2025/2026 adjustment budget, saying it fails to prioritise infrastructure maintenance and investment. The adjustment budget, adopted in the provincial legislature on Tuesday, adds resources amounting to 3.3-billion-rand to the provincial budget to address frontline services. The DA’s Ruhan Robinson says the budget fails to meaningfully address the province’s most pressing crisis: collapsing infrastructure:

# A Russian oil tanker carrying 730-thousand barrels of crude oil arrived in Cuba, providing a small relief to the US-blockaded island nation. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the permission granted to the tanker a decision that will continue to be made on a case-by-case basis for humanitarian reasons or otherwise. Experts estimate the shipment could produce some 180-thousand barrels of diesel, which would sustain daily demand in Cuba for nine to ten days.

# Golf: Eighteen-year-old Andries van der Vyver of Strand in Cape Town equalled a world record when he closed the Nomads SA Boys Under-19 Stroke Play Championship on 35-under-par in East London in the Eastern Cape. He matched the record set by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama in the Sentry Tournament of Champions on the PGA Tour in January last year. Van der Vyver says after being 26-under after the third round, he decided to really try to get to 34-under, and to get to 35 was just incredible.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-77-cents against the rand and the euro at 19-rand-50-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-34-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-553-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-747-dollars-46-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 99-dollars-20-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….