November 28, 2023.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lynne Davies.

Making headlines: 

ANC heads to ConCourt to challenge ruling on R150m election branding material debt

Gauteng e-tolls debt proposal to be submitted by mid-December

And, Kenyan court strikes down housing levy in finance law

ANC heads to ConCourt to challenge ruling on R150m election branding material debt

The African National Congress plans to challenge a Supreme Court of Appeal order compelling the party to pay R150-million to a KwaZulu-Natal branding company for 2019 election material.

The party studied the SCA judgment and believes the court did not consider its application fully and that the Constitutional Court might come to a different conclusion.

The ANC is of the view that the SCA did not consider new evidence from a forensic report, which it says reveals crucial evidence that there was no authorisation for the transactions in question and that certain implicated people misrepresented their positions and authority.

Gauteng e-tolls debt proposal to be submitted by mid-December

Gauteng Finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo has assured that the Gauteng provincial government will table a “concrete proposal” to national government by December 15 outlining plans to pay off the province’s portion of the long-contested e-tolls debt and switch off or repurpose the gantries.

Unpacking the province’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement today, he said that it was now time to “conclude the modalities of the settlement of the debt” and that feedback on the proposal and “finality” were expected before the State of the Province Address early next year.

He said it remained an increasingly pronounced risk to Gauteng’s fiscus in resolving the challenges related to raising revenue to settle Gauteng's R12.9-billion, or 30%, of the e-tolls debt, as announced in a directive by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana during the 2022 national Medium-term budget statement.

Kenyan court strikes down housing levy in finance law

Kenya's High Court has declared unconstitutional a 1.5% levy intended to fund affordable housing that was imposed as part of a finance law adopted in June.

The law, which also doubled the fuel tax and increased the top income tax rate, sparked violent protests in July by opponents who said it would further squeeze households at a time of rising living costs.

In its ruling, the court said that the government had not provided a rational explanation for why it had imposed the housing levy only on workers with employment in the formal sector.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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