Morning Brief – Tuesday, 6 September 2022

Good morning. Today we’re covering new details that have emerged from Phala Phala, cabinet is in discussion over introducing an economic relief package to deal with the cost of living crisis, and Britons don’t expect new prime minister Liz Truss to be much better than Boris Johnson.

Phala Phala: Mystery Sudanese businessman paid $580 000 to Ramaphosa’s farmhand 45 days before theft – News24 (for subscribers)

The latest to emerge from the Phala Phala scandal shows that a Sudanese businessman handed over $580,000 in cash to an employee at the farm some 45 days before the money was stolen, reports News24 as it investigates the scandal further.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s responses to the public protector show that he did know about the $580,000 paid over for a group of buffalo but the nature of the relationship between the president and Mustaf Mohamed Ibrahim Hazim is unclear.

Ramaphosa has refused to answer any questions surrounding their relationship while as it turns out the buffalo were never actually collected and are still on the Phala Phala farm today. Read more here.

Cabinet considers relief package to ease cost of living crisis – Business Day (for subscribers)

Business Day reports that the cabinet began debating introducing some economic relief packages to shield South Africans from the worst cost of living crisis in decades.

The two-day biannual Lekgota began on Monday with the minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele saying there was no doubt a relief package would be agreed upon by cabinet but that he could not reveal any specifics at this stage.

The meeting comes as inflation skyrocketed to 7.8% in July – a level last seen 13 years ago – while continued supply chain disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, soaring fuel and food costs and the knock-on economic effects of the pandemic continue to bite. Read more here.

Only one in seven Britons say Truss will be better than Boris Johnson as PM – Daily Maverick

Liz Truss will officially take over as the UK’s new prime minister today after she won the Conservative Party leadership race yesterday, defeating her opponent, the former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak, in the party membership vote.

But a snap YouGov poll has revealed that Britons have little faith in their new PM, with only 14% convinced Truss will do a better job than her predecessor, Boris Johnson, while 27% believe she will be worse. Read more here.