Good morning, today we’re covering the ANC KwaZulu-Natal elective conference that took place over the weekend, where President Cyril Ramaphosa was dealt a blow to his ANC presidency election ambitions.
New ANC KZN leader Siboniso Duma saves Cyril Ramaphosa from embarrassment – Daily Maverick
Ramaphosa arrived at the conference on Sunday evening after it was earlier reported that he would not deliver the closing remarks due to other commitments but the newly elected chairperson Siboniso Duma said Ramaphosa had chosen to come because he recognises the importance of KZN.
Ramaphosa was greeted by a hostile crowd who are openly angry at the president for allowing former president Jacob Zuma to be arrested for contempt of court. Duma had to ask conference delegates, not to boo or berate the president and said Ramaphosa was well aware of the provincial party’s position regarding Zuma. Read more here.
Ramaphosa’s address to hostile ANC KZN a bone of contention among party leaders – News24
Ramaphosa was lucky that he got to deliver the closing remarks because the newly elected KZN leadership wanted Duma to close the conference.
The election of Duma, who campaigned on a staunch anti-Ramaphosa ticket, defeating Sihle Zikalala, Ramaphosa’s ally in the province, means the party president has been dealt a real blow going into the national elective conference later this year.
Ramaphosa will be aiming to be re-elected as ANC president for a second term and not having the support of the large KZN power base may present a challenge to his bid. Read more here.
VAT hike to 17% is ‘the least bad option’ to fund BIG, research shows – Business Day (for subscribers)
A new research paper has proposed that value-added tax be hiked from 15% to 17% to pay for the basic income grant.
The research was compiled by Intellidex on behalf of Business Unity SA (Busa) and Business Leadership SA (BLSA) and states that a two percentage point hike could raise an additional R50 billion in funding. Read more here.
Here’s what else we’re reading today:
Ramaphosa will ‘soon’ announce a package of additional measures to reduce severe load-shedding – TimesLIVE
“We’re not enemies”: Ramaphosa faces booing KZN delegates, urges unity – The Citizen
ANC KZN: Jubilant ‘Taliban faction’ takes control of the troubled province after a stormy weekend – Daily Maverick
Hire foreigners illegally, ‘face the music’ warns Nxesi as road freight blitz puts 11 behind bars – Fin24
Interest rate hike will further increase the heavy load on SA’s debt-stressed consumers – Daily Maverick
Suspensions in Numsa reversed – The Citizen
Best paid tech CEOs in South Africa – MyBroadband
10 years and at least R43 million later, a Joburg community almost has a new swimming pool – Business Insider
Image Credit: GCIS
