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MAKEKASIGREAT©®™ @KASIBC_AFRICA ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA SOUTH AFRICA CONTINUES TO ENGAGE THE US GOVERNMENT ON THE RECIPROCAL TARIFFS President Cyril Ramaphosa notes with concern the reciprocal tariffs imposed by the United States on South African products. The reciprocal tariffs have been imposed by the US on a significant number of its trade partners and South Africa has not been spared.  South Africa will continue negotiating with the US regarding the 30 percent tariff announced by the US, which will come into effect on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time 7 days after 1 August 2025.  All applicable exceptions published in the previous US Executive Order are set to remain in force and these exceptions covered products such as copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber articles, certain critical minerals, stainless steel scrap and energy and energy products.  Government has been engaging the United States, and has submitted a Framework Deal that aims to e...

MAKEKASIGREAT©®™ @KASIBC_AFRICA ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA TSHWANE CITY CLEANSING LEVY In February this year the Democratic Alliance (DA) called on the ANC coalition in the City of Tshwane not to introduce any new taxes on residents. In the months following, the DA repeatedly warned the ruling coalition not to treat Tshwane residents as cash cows in an attempt to balance their books. Regardless of widespread public outcry, the ANC, EFF and ActionSA pushed forward and adopted a ‘funded’ budget that relied on the introduction of a city cleansing levy. Today, in a victory for all citizens of Tshwane, at the behest of AfriForum, the court has set aside this cleansing levy as unlawful and ordered the levy to be scrapped and, where already implemented, reversed. Tshwane imposed this new levy on all properties that are using private waste contractors to remove their waste. This means properties where there was no service being rendered by the City, are being charged extra by the City. Tshwa...

MAKEKASIGREAT©®™ @KASIBC_AFRICA ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA GDE UPDATE ON MUNICIPAL DEBT PAYMENTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE INTERVENTIONS The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) wishes to provide an update on the fulfilment of its commitment to settle all outstanding municipal debts owed by schools as of 31 March 2025 and outline critical infrastructure interventions aimed at addressing overcrowding across the province’s public schools. As of 30 June 2025, the GDE had successfully paid a total of R426.27 million, representing 99.95% of the R426.45 million that was owed to municipalities and Eskom for schools without Section 21(1)(d) functions. The small outstanding balance of R175,853.61 (0.05%) was due to a delay resulting from updates to the Standard Chart of Accounts (SCOA), a reform implemented by the Provincial Treasury to improve public financial management systems.  The Department confirms that the remaining balance will be paid during the scheduled payment runs between 25 July...

MAKEKASIGREAT©®™ @KASIBC_AFRICA ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA South Africa’s commitment to a conclusion on the US Trade Deal The intersection of geopolitical, domestic and trade issues best defines the current impasse between South Africa and the United States, and a reset is unavoidable. South Africa took the decision not to retaliate to the reciprocal tariffs announced by the United States. We also want to reiterate that we have no intention of decoupling from the United States either. Our view is that negotiations remain the best tool to deal with the issues that are on the table. South Africa is not in a unique position as the United States attempts to finalise negotiations with some 185 countries around the world by the 1st of August 2025. We remain committed to the cause as we await substantive feedback from our US counterparts on the final status on our Framework deal. Our deal featured a number of areas including and not limited to: Importing 750-100 petajoules of Liquified Natu...

MAKEKASIGREAT©®™ @KASIBC_AFRICA ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA GAUTENG HOSPITAL CHAOS An alarming number of patients get new infections caused by poor conditions in Gauteng public hospitals. According to a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature, 7743 patients got hospital-acquired infections last year, including many antibiotic-resistant infections that are difficult to treat and could be life-threatening. These are known as nosocomial infections, which develop during a hospital stay when patients get an infection other than what they were admitted for. By far the worst hospital is Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (CMJH), where 1473 out of 12 940 patients in 2024 got nosocomial infections (11%) - this is one in ten of all patients! At the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (CHBH), there was a 6% nosocomial infection rate - 1796 infections out of 31 950 admissions. Others with a concerning number of hospital-acquired infections include the following: Edenvale Hospital...

MAKEKASIGREAT©®™ @KASIBC_AFRICA ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA 100 000 Jobs on the line, Tau must ensure U.S. Trade Deal The DA is concerned that, with under a week remaining to the August 1 deadline, negotiations with the United States on a trade deal remain far from completion. Minister Tau continues to claim negotiations are advancing, while South Africa is being kept in the dark, without any public updates, worried about the future of businesses. Minister Parks Tau must conclude a trade deal with the United States before tariffs decimate our economic growth. South Africa cannot afford a “no-deal” scenario. The economic cost is far too great. The lives and livelihoods of 100 000 workers on our farms and in our car factories are far too important to be gambled with. These jobs rest on the shoulders of the Minister and his Department, who have pursued the latest round of negotiations alone and kept the rest of the GNU in the dark. The DA will welcome a deal with the United States that p...