Salga calls for SoNA to address municipal debt recovery, energy crisis

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) has expressed hopes that President Cyril Ramaphosa will address municipal debt recovery, local government funding and the energy crisis as part of his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) on February 9.    This year’s SoNA takes place as South Africa struggles to deal with a significant energy crisis and a rising cost of living.  
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Outa braces for more empty promises from SoNA

Ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s yearly State of the Nation Address (SoNA) on February 9, Organisation Against Tax Abuse (Outa) CEO Wayne Duvenage has warned that empty promises will only deepen the distrust South Africans have towards the government.  “The Edelman Trust barometer has, for many years, indicated that South Africans have one of the lowest rates of trust in its government, with distrust as the default position. If [Ramaphosa] continues to make empty promises, he will continue to widen this gap. We need believable implementation of the many plans that are promised. We need impact,” he said. 
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Shoprite, Coca-Cola, Burger King and others urge Ramaphosa to halt fuel taxes

The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) on Tuesday urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to scrap the sugar tax, as well as suspend the fuel duty and road accident fund levies for the industry amid record levels of load shedding. In an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa – sent on behalf of the CEOs of Shoprite, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Tiger Brands, Burger King, British American Tobacco, Walmart-owned Massmart, Steers-owner Famous Brands and others – the CGCSA says that load shedding has “escalated catastrophically” and was crippling businesses.
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