For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I am Thabi Shomolekae.

Making headlines: Presidency announces official funeral for Pravin Gordhan; Ramaphosa says government wants culture of openness, dialogue in GNU; And, South Africa’s work visa reform plans slowed by tax issues

Presidency announces official funeral for Pravin Gordhan

Former Minister Pravin Gordhan will be laid to rest on Thursday, in a category 2 Special Official Funeral.

The presidency announced today that Gordhan’s funeral will take place in Durban, at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Center, at 10am, followed by a private cremation.

Gordhan passed away at the age of 75 in the early hours of September 13, following a period of illness.

Thursday’s funeral service will see the South African Police Service perform ceremonial elements.

Gordhan’s family has requested that in lieu of floral tributes, mourners offer donations to charities of their choice, or the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.

Ramaphosa says government wants culture of openness, dialogue in GNU

President Cyril Ramaphosa said government is seeking to establish a culture of openness and dialogue among members of the Government of National Unity.

On Friday Ramaphosa signed the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill into law, despite a significant degree of public rejection, and concern over its constitutionality, as well as threats that the GNU would be destabilised should he sign it.

After consultation, Ramaphosa placed on hold clauses 4 and 5 of the Bill for three months to find solutions to the concerns around them. Should no solutions be found, the Bill would be implemented fully, he said.

Ramaphosa noted that while government could not guarantee that the parties that had requested timeout to engage on the Bill would reach agreement on every difficult issue, efforts must be made to find common ground.

And, South Africa’s work visa reform plans slowed by tax issues

South Africa’s plan to attract more professionals to its skills-starved economy through the introduction of a so-called nomad visa for remote workers has been slowed by the need to amend tax regulations.

The impediment comes after an initial delay when changes to the visa regime had to be temporarily withdrawn because mandatory public consultation procedures hadn’t been followed. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his intention to introduce a remote-working visa in his 2022 state-of-the-nation address.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said there is just a tax-related matter that needs to be addressed.

South Africa’s byzantine work permit regime, which means that securing a work permit can take well over a year, has been flagged as a hurdle to economic growth by both the presidency and the country’s main business organisations.

Still, a backlog of more than 300 000 applications for all kinds of residence permits has been halved since a new cabinet was announced on June 30 after the formation of a coalition government.

The home affairs ministry initially proposed allowing people employed and paid by companies elsewhere to live in the country for as long as six months a year without paying tax, as long as they earned at least R1-million a year.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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