For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lumkile Nkomfe.

Making headlines: Godongwana awaiting inflation-targeting report; Ramaphosa says SA will convene side event at financing conference in Spain, in support of SDGs; And, DA wants to see prosecutions in Defence Force Covid-19 irregular expenditure case

Godongwana awaiting inflation-targeting report

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said he is waiting for a report on the country’s inflation-targeting dispensation and he hasn’t decided whether it should be adjusted.

Speaking during an interview in Cape Town today, Godongwana said he does not have any views at the moment, all he knows is that there is a standing committee between the finance department and the Reserve Bank.

He explained that one of the matters being discussed is the level of the inflation target.

The central bank’s 3% to 6% inflation target hasn’t been changed since it was introduced in 2000. Its governor, Lesetja Kganyago, favours shifting to a single-point target and has said that aiming for 3% would lead to lower interest rates than otherwise would be the case.

South Africa’s annual inflation rate was less than 3% in March and April, and the central bank last week said expects it to average 3.2% this year and 4.2% in 2026. The bank aims to anchor inflation expectations around the midpoint of its target range

Godongwana didn’t specify when he expects the panel that is reviewing the framework to complete its work.

Ramaphosa says SA will convene side event at financing conference in Spain, in support of SDGs

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that South Africa will organise a side event at the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, in pursuit of sustainable funding to back the country’s pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The conference will be held between June 30 and July 3, in Spain, under the theme ‘Forging a common agenda to achieve debt sustainability in developing economies’, and will address new and emerging issues, and the urgent need to fully implement the SDGs, and support reform of the international financial architecture.

Ramaphosa said the conference was a crucial moment for the global community to accelerate its collective efforts, calling for urgency and “far greater ambition”.

He pointed out that this event would bring together leading voices from various debt-related initiatives to identify synergies and areas of convergence.

And, DA wants to see prosecutions in Defence Force Covid-19 irregular expenditure case

The Democratic Alliance said it is hopeful that the case into the R250-million irregular expenditure by the South African National Defence Force in 2020 on an unapproved anti-Covid vaccine from Cuba, will be handed over for prosecution.

In 2022 the DA called on the then Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, to account to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans regarding reports that the SANDF spent R215-million on importing unproven Covid-19 medication.

The party noted that the order for the Heberon Alpha R 2B, also known as Interferon, was purchased without approval for treatment of Covid-19 by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority. Despite this, Defence officials proceeded.

The party said it will push for concrete timelines for a full investigation, noting that those responsible for the “SANDF Cuban Covid looting spree under the guise of a public health emergency” must be held to account.

DA National Council of Provinces Member on Security and Justice Nicholas Gotsell explained that the case is advancing again after significant DA pressure noting that the Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit are proceeding with an investigation, and that complainant statements were taken in person this week to support the charges the DA laid with the South African Police Service in 2022.

Gotsell highlighted that because the criminal investigation had dissipated, the DA used Parliamentary Questions to the Minister of Police to prompt him on the delay in the investigation, and wrote letters to the Minister.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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