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

Making headlines: Eskom exempted from declaring irregular and fruitless spending in its accounts; Murunwa Makwarela pleads not guilty to fraud charges, granted R10 000 bail; And, Only 6 000 new personal income taxpayers contributed tax last year

Eskom exempted from declaring irregular and fruitless spending in its accounts

Eskom has been exempted from disclosing irregular and fruitless expenditure in its annual financial statements in a special government gazette issued by Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana.

The gazette, which was published on the last day of the financial year, provides Eskom with an exemption from a section of the Public Finance Management Act for 2022/23 and the following two years.

The applicable section of the Act requires that state entities provide particulars in their annual financial statements and annual reports of "any material losses through criminal conduct and any irregular expenditure and fruitless and wasteful expenditure that occurred during the financial year."

The gazette also exempts Eskom from a Treasury regulation that deals with the same requirement.

Eskom would still be required to disclose all information required by International Financial Reporting Standards and general debt listing requirements. In granting the exemption, Godongwana will also set conditions, which will be laid out in a letter to Makwana.

Murunwa Makwarela pleads not guilty to fraud charges, granted R10 000 bail

Former Tshwane mayor Murunwa Makwarela was granted R10 000 bail after pleading not guilty to fraud charges in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria today.

Earlier in the morning, Makwarela handed himself over to police officers at Brooklyn police station after the Hawks indicated their intention to arrest him.

After pleading not guilty, he was granted R10 000 bail. He is expected back in court on May 2.

Makwarela's appearance in court follows his submission of an allegedly fake insolvency clearance certificate to the City of Tshwane. He used the certificate, which he said was issued by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, to prove that he had the right to remain mayor of Tshwane.

The law prohibits a person who has been declared insolvent from holding public office.

And, Only 6 000 new personal income taxpayers contributed tax last year

The South African Revenue Service collected 8.3% more personal income tax than in the past tax year, boosted by the 7.5% growth in employment numbers and the 5.3% increase in the country's wage bill.

Personal income tax still makes up the biggest portion of all the tax revenues Sars collects at 35.7% or R601.7-billion in rand terms in the 2022/23 tax year. Sars recorded a 4.53% increase in new PIT taxpayers, raising the active taxpayer base to just under 26-million.

Sars chief revenue officer Johnstone Makhubu said while the register grows by millions, some people are still job seekers because some employers require that they be resgistered with Sars before they are employed.

There were 1.17-million new taxpayers who registered with Sars; however, only 0.5% of those ended up contributing to personal income tax in the past tax year.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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