April 02, 2026.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lynne Davies.

Making headlines:

Ramaphosa appoints new head of Sars

MKP moves to have Section 235 of Constitution repealed

And, growing risks as oceans economy faces pressure, fragmentation

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday appointed Ngobani Johnstone Makhubu as the new commissioner of the South African Revenue Service for a period of five years, effective May 1.

Makhubu, currently Sars's deputy commissioner for taxpayer engagement and operations, will take over from Edward Kieswetter, whose tenure ends on April 30.

According to a statement from the presidency, Makhubu brings over 17 years of senior leadership experience in tax administration, as well as commercial, finance and operations management.

Africa's largest economy collected a net R2.01-trillion of tax in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 8.4% higher than the previous year, preliminary figures showed yesterday.

The uMkhonto we Sizwe Party has announced its introduction of an Amendment Bill that proposes repealing Section 235 of the Constitution, which gives communities with a common cultural and language heritage the right to pursue self-determination.

The MKP argued that its Bill was a “necessary intervention” to protect national unity, arguing that Section 235 is ambiguous and that the Bill of Rights already protects language, cultural rights, freedom of association and religious freedom.

MKP argued that Section 235 has remained “dormant, undefined and legally inoperative for three decades”.

Compared with the rights protected in the Bill of Rights, MKP says Section 235 has not been operationalised through legislation and that it creates confusion instead of protection.

It further argued that its amendment would prevent “misuse” of the Constitution to justify exclusion or division.

Global body UN Trade and Development says the “virtual closure” of the Strait of Hormuz, in the Middle East, is disrupting a critical share of global oil and gas flows, while trade is losing momentum.

The Strait of Hormuz, a central artery for global energy trade, has seen activity fall to a near halt and ship transits dropped from about 130 a day in February to six in March – a collapse of about 95%.

Unctad warns that global merchandise trade growth is likely to slow sharply from about 4.7% in 2025 to between 1.5% and 2.5% this year.

In an update to Unctad’s initial assessment on March 10, the body states that there has been a rapid worsening of global conditions since the US and Israel started military attacks against Iran at the end of February.

Risks now extend well beyond energy markets, with Unctad noting that the effects of the conflict are spreading through the global economy, disrupting energy flows, raising prices and increasing financial pressure on developing countries.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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