October 27, 2023.

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

Making headlines:

DA slams Eskom rebranding amid high electricity tariffs, loadshedding

Basic Education Committee wishes 2023 Matric Class well ahead of final exams

And, Sars apologises to taxpayers for legal threats

DA slams Eskom rebranding amid high electricity tariffs, loadshedding

The Democratic Alliance has expressed its disapproval of a tender recently issued by Eskom tasking suppliers to provide services for the design of a new logo and the development of a new corporate identity.

The party has labelled this as a “completely unnecessary vanity project” that fails to solve the country’s loadshedding crisis and adds that it does not account for the woes of consumers as they continue to struggle under high electricity tariffs.

The DA has called for Eskom CEO Caleb Cassim to rescind the tender, also condemning the 31.4% tariff increase imposed by the power utility earlier this year.

DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises Ghaleb Cachalia has urged Eskom to reorient its strategy towards finding new ways of increasing generation capacity.

Basic Education Committee wishes 2023 Matric Class well ahead of final exams

The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has wished the Matric Class of 2023 well for the final examinations which are officially set to begin on Monday.

These examinations conclude on December 5, with the National Senior Certificate examination results scheduled to be announced by the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga on January 18, 2024, and the provincial release of results scheduled for a day later.

Portfolio Committee chairperson Bongiwe Mbingqo-Gigaba said that assurances were given by the DBE and the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training, Umalusi, that the national examination system was ready to administer the NSC examinations.

She also called on all stakeholders in the education system, including parents, caregivers and families, to be supportive of learners during this stressful time.

Sars apologises to taxpayers for legal threats

The South African Revenue Service has apologised after it issued a threatening message earlier this week warning taxpayers that they would be penalised and criminally prosecuted if their tax status was deemed to be non-compliant.

The offending message was issued as a general warning via SMS on Tuesday, which cautioned that failure to submit a tax return was a criminal offence and that if returns were not submitted within 10 days of receiving the message, it would result in the initiation of a "criminal process". The message also warned that offenders would be issued with a "notice of intention to summons".

However, on Wednesday, Sars appeared to backtrack from the threatening message, saying it was merely striving to remind taxpayers of their legal obligation to file their returns, as well as the potential consequences for not doing so.

"The SMS message that was sent out earlier this week, in relation to outstanding returns, fell short of the high professional standard we seek to uphold," Sars said in its apology.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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