April 22, 2025.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines:

DA says it’s not opposed to workable Budget, as it challenges tax increase in court

Mavuso calls for overhaul of auto masterplan as world dynamics change

And, Zambia to sign final bilateral debt-revamp deals by September

DA says it’s not opposed to workable Budget, as it challenges tax increase in court

The Democratic Alliance said today that while it is not opposed to a workable Budget, it opposes an anti-growth, anti-jobs and anti-poor VAT-based Budget.

DA spokesperson on Finance, Dr Mark Burke was speaking in front of the High Court in Cape Town where the DA's urgent court application to interdict the pending VAT increase is being heard.

He said the party opposes a debilitating and bulldozing Budget that will lead to further poverty by taking money from people who can’t afford it and giving it to people who don’t know how to use it.

He said the DA was opposing a “bleeding, blind and blundering Budget,” that would make it more expensive for the working class to get to and from work.

He said his party would lend its support to a Budget focussed on infrastructure investment and no new bailouts.

Mavuso calls for overhaul of auto masterplan as world dynamics change

Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso has expressed concern in her latest newsletter about South Africa’s automotive exports to the US, saying that, to forestall the impact of tariffs on the local industrial base, more engagement with the US needs to take place.

She also calls for a reassessment of the South African Automotive Industry Masterplan that was published in 2018.

She said the US is the fastest-growing region for South Africa’s vehicle exports and the Trump administration’s tariffs will have a significant impact on particular models that are exported there.

The sector faces a potential 30% tariff on South African imports in a few months’ time.

The US accounts for about 6.5% of South Africa’s vehicle exports.

Mavuso says more US leaders should be engaged to shift course to help preserve South Africa’s automotive value chain, but also emphasises the importance of ensuring the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement is fully implemented.

Zambia to sign final bilateral debt-revamp deals by September

Zambia aims to sign debt-restructuring deals with its remaining bilateral creditors by the third quarter, said Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane, helping to bring closure to a years-long effort.

The copper-rich southern African nation has already finalised deals with France and Saudi Arabia, yet agreements with other creditor countries — including the largest, China — remain pending. That’s yet another reminder of the painstakingly slow progress that governments have made with debt workouts in the wake of the pandemic.

Zambia was the first African nation to default after Covid-19 upended the global economy in 2020, followed by Ghana and Ethiopia. Finding agreement across a diverse set of creditors, ranging from State-owned Chinese banks to the Paris Club of mostly rich countries and bondholders, has taken years and faced many pitfalls.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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