Author: Kgaogelo Magolego

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget proposal delivered in a much anticipated speech in parliament has been widely rejected. It largely expected for opposition parties to reject the budget with their stated opposition to tax increases that include the poor but a last minute cabinet meeting was meant to secure consensus within the so called Government of National Unity but was clearly unsuccessful as major players such as the Democratic Alliance and the Freedom Front + have not just rejected the budget but are using it to campaign for votes and against the ANC which leads the coalition government. Among opposition parties…

Leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters Julius Malema has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa accusing him of not just entertaining but also aiding racists in becoming emboldened. Malema’s criticism follows an admission by Ramaphosa during his question and answer session in parliament that he had met South African born billionaire businessman and now influential American civil servant Elon Musk more than once including recently. Malema also suggested that the President undermined international relations Minister Ronald Lamola by allowing the likes of Musk to have a direct line to him. “Mr President, I don’t know wittingly or unwittingly when you were answering…

The Economic Freedom Fighters has called out Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana accusing him of lacking necessary understanding of what he needs to do in managing the country’s finances. The party expressed particular concern with Godongwana’s statement that there would not be a need for more revenue if the Social Distress Relief Grant was to be discontinued. The EFF said in a statement the minister’s comments suggest he’s confined himself to simplistic positions instead of exploring sustainable ways of raising funds and ensuring the budget is feasible. “The Economic Freedom Fighters finds it completely disingenuous that the options at the National Treasury’s…

The #EFF has shut down Pick n Pay at Silverton Crossing in protest of the retrenchment of some 51 employees. Activists from the party’s Mamelodi sub-region led a shutdown of the store after management refused to even talk to them. The employees say they were informed verbally about a planned closure that the company said was to take place in less than a month with all of them laid off. They claim to have also been told Shoprite was to take over the store. EFF activist Bongani Ramontja told the protesters that shutting down the store would force Pick n…

UMkhonto Wesizwe has threatened to render South Africa ungovernable should the government proceed to impose a 2 percent increase of Tue Value Added Tax. The party marched to the National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank on Monday warning the government to go ahead with the move at its own peril. Disagreements within the GNU resulted in the last minute postponement of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on the 19th of last month. The party accused the GNU of sacrificing the poor in order to appease the wealthy ( largely white). “This uncaring GNU must collect the billions of rands…

Canada has a new Prime Minister. Prominent banker Mark Carney won the Liberal Party’s leadership contest on Sunday and replaces Justin Trudeau as head of state. Trudeau announced his resignation in January following pressure from his own MPs. The change of leadership comes amid a trade war with the United States that started when President Donald Trump imposed heavy tariffs on Canadian exports, with Tradeau responding in similar fashion. Carney, who used to be the head of the Bank of England as well as Canada’s central bank won the leadership race with a landslide, securing 85.9% of the vote. In his…

The involvement of the USA in peacekeeping efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may deepen the isolation of Rwanda which has already been sanctioned by some of its key allies over their backing of the M23 rebel group currently fighting over to takeover the country. With M23 having already taken large parts of Eastern DRC including the provincial capital Goma, President Felix Tshishekedi has extended an invitation to Western powers to take up mineral rights in his country in return for providing security, a move that if successful may result in Rwanda being deprived of the precious metals…

President Cyril Ramaphosa said has put together a working team, to turn Johannesburg around ahead of the G-20 Summit scheduled for November. Ramaphosa announced the Presidential Johannesburg Working Team on Friday at the conclusion of a two day meeting between his executive Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and the City Mayor Dada Morero. “We are proposing the establishment of the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group. This would bring in all levels of government and the expertise of our stakeholders to accelerate service delivery, stabilise the city’s finances and operations, and enable economic growth and job creation,” said Ramaphosa on assembling the team.…

Despite his misgivings about the state of Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa has applauded the level of safety in the Central Business District. Ramaphosa said he recently drove through the CBD felt safe with seeing Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department officers at every turn. One evening, travelling from Soweto, I wandered into the city late at night (0:57) with my protectors, obviously.“ And as we drove through the city, I must say I was hugely impressed by the safety sense that I felt in the city be cause JMPD was all over the city. I stopped counting how many vehicles there were and how many officers…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed disappointment with the current state of Johannesburg urged both the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng provincial government to do their best to make sure it looks better ahead of the G-20 summit in November. Ramaphosa visited Johannesburg on Monday to assess its general state and service delivery as part of preparations for the summit to be held in South Africa’s most populous city. The President said his last visit to Johannesburg has been rather disappointing. “I should say that one or two meetings of the G20 that I attended here were not very pleasing.…