For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Shomolekae.

Making headlines: South Africa inflation rises slightly to 2.8% y/y in April; AfriForum challenges constitutionality of Expropriation Act in court; And, Deportations to South Sudan appear to violate court order, US judge says

South Africa inflation rises slightly to 2.8% y/y in April

South Africa's inflation rose marginally in April due to higher food prices but remained below the central bank's target range, statistics agency data showed today.

Headline consumer inflation stood at 2.8% year-on-year last month compared with 2.7% in March, while in month-on-month terms, inflation was at 0.3% in April from 0.4% in March.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast annual inflation would remain steady at 2.7%, below the central bank's 3% to 6% target range.

Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo said last week that a new inflation target could be announced soon, leading to speculation that it could feature in today’s budget presentation.

South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago has for years stressed his preference for a lower inflation target, saying it is needed to make the economy more competitive.

But Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, who would need to sign off on a lower target, has been reluctant, citing inflationary risks from pervasive poverty and high unemployment.

AfriForum challenges constitutionality of Expropriation Act in court

Lobby group AfriForum has filed an application in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to challenge the constitutionality of the controversial Expropriation Act.

The Bill signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year has been met with criticism from some opposition parties and civil society and has been the catalyst for US President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate all United States Agency for International Development aid to South Africa.

AfriForum head of public relations Ernst van Zyl maintained that the Act, and the notice of its signing published in the government gazette a month later, contained “serious flaws and is a real threat to the constitutional right to private property in South Africa".

Van Zyl welcomed Trump’s spotlight on the “threat” the Act posed to private property rights in South Africa.

AfriForum argued that certain sections and provisions of the Act contained inherent contradictions.

Alternatively, AfriForum seeks an order that those specific provisions be declared unconstitutional.

And, Deportations to South Sudan appear to violate court order, US judge says

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to not let a group of migrants being flown to South Sudan leave the custody of US immigration authorities after saying they appeared to have been deported in violation of a court order.

US District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston during a hastily arranged virtual hearing said that while he was not going to order the airplane to turn around, that was an option the US Department of Homeland Security could employ to comply with his order.

Murphy warned that officials could be held in criminal contempt if he found they violated his previous order barring the swift deportation of migrants to countries other than their own before they could raise any concerns that they might face torture or persecution there.

Murphy, an appointee of former Democratic President Joe Biden, said any migrants covered by the injunction en route to the African nation must remain in the government's custody pending a further hearing today.

He said the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, could comply with that order in a myriad of ways, including keeping the migrants on the plane on the tarmac once it lands.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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