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Dear readers,
There is no agreement in sight – and budget day is fast approaching. What’s interesting, but also worrying, is that finance minister Enoch Godongwana is standing his ground on a VAT increase, insisting he needs the extra revenue to fund a myriad needs, but the DA insists there’s no deal yet. In an interview with the Sunday Times this week, Godongwana takes us inside the battles he’s had to fight ahead of his initial failed bid to pass the budget and how he might just succeed this time.
In Business Times, a think tank pleads with Godongwana to seriously consider taxing the rich a bit more through wealth and luxury goods tax, increasing the corporate tax by one percentage point while also suspending medical tax credits.
On the other hand, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national security adviser Sydney Mufamadi tells us Pretoria has lost its appetite for engagement with Washington. This comes after Pretoria had said it would send envoys around the world and Washington with a view to influencing US President Donald Trump who relied on misinformation to punish South Africa. Following Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky’s performance on the yellow chairs of the Oval Office, it’s, erm, understandable Pretoria is not falling over itself trying to get there. If the engagement isn’t meaningful, then it’s not worth the effort. But sooner rather later, there ought to be real engagement on the issues.
Elsewhere, observers ask if ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, who has hauled five senior leaders before a disciplinary committee, isn’t using — or rather abusing — his position by unleashing his wrath on people he knows are unlikely to support his reported presidential ambitions when the ANC elects new leaders in 2027.
There’s these stories and much more in the Sunday Times today.Happy reading,
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