Victoria O'Regan

The ‘first real test’ of whether middle ground can be found in the Government of National Unity has come with the Budget, says the Freedom Front Plus leader.

Treason is the topic du jour. But what is treason and who has been found guilty of it in South Africa?

On Thursday, MPs debated the termination of US aid to South Africa, and the country’s response to it. The debate was sponsored by EFF leader Julius Malema.

The President says he takes ‘a very dim view’ of the organisations’ behaviour in the US capital.

Instead of cutting budgets and increasing VAT, there were other solutions to the country’s financial crisis, said protestors before Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget speech.

MPs on Friday had sharp words for Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on the contentious 0.5 percentage point hike in the VAT rate, and the absence of a ‘clear and achievable plan for job creation’ in SA’s Budget 2025.

The South African Presidency says it notes ‘the regrettable expulsion’ of SA’s ambassador to the US.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says Pretoria’s aim for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s state visit in April is to ‘enforce the message of peace’.

The organisations said they ‘remained concerned’ about the lack of transparency from the government in response to the crisis.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition is pushing ahead with its plan for a R100bn transformation fund and has published a draft concept document on the fund for public comment.