Newspaper headlines from around the world - Friday, 23 May 2025
A bundle of newspapers on the table. Image: The South African/CANVA
Here are the stories that made headlines on the front pages of newspapers worldwide on Friday, 23 May 2025. The Wall Street Journal's front page reported that the Trump tax bill has gone to the Senate. China Daily's front page reported that China and France urged to defend international rules-based order The front page of Hindustan Times reported – Modi blasts Pakistan: 'Sindoor has become our gunpowder'
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Daily Maverick
28 minutes ago
- Daily Maverick
South Africa's SMMEs are flying blind in a changing global order
Small businesses are yet again expected to absorb the shocks of stalling growth, economic policy and diplomacy. Small businesses are expected to keep the lights on, even as South Africa stumbles through an increasingly volatile global and domestic economic environment. While a 25 basis point rate cut at month end offered some respite, it's hardly the lifeline small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) need, said Miguel da Silva, executive of business banking at TymeBank in the bank's SMME forecast for June. 'Some diminishing pressure on the cost of credit' followed the South African Reserve Bank's cut, Da Silva said. Yet, he said 'the economy needs every bit of help it can get'. VAT relief with a fuel levy sting The National Treasury's decision to hold VAT steady at 15% provided some short-term relief to cash-strapped SMMEs. But the olive branch came with a thorn. As of 4 June, petrol and diesel prices jumped by 16c and 15c per litre respectively. 'With many small businesses already operating on razor-thin margins, this 16c increase will likely be passed on to consumers, potentially dampening demand in an already constrained market,' Da Silva said. This adaptation to the Budget showcases the government's strained fiscal position. In a podcast discussion on Budget 3.0, Stanlib chief economist Kevin Lings pointed out that until South Africa lifts GDP growth above 3%, pressure on public finances will persist. 'The negative revenue impact from backtracking on the VAT increases proposed in the previous version of the Budget, as well as the weaker economic growth trajectory, is counteracted… by a combination of revenue and spending adjustments,' explained Dr Elna Moolman, Standard Bank Group head of South African macroeconomic research. 'The expenditure changes are dominated by scaling back some of the new spending proposed in the previous versions of the Budget, while the revenue adjustments include both the reversal of some of the tax relief previously proposed… and unspecified future tax hikes.' The Budget foreshadows a pivot to removing the regulatory burden on businesses. Though, as Da Silva noted, no specific SME-support programmes, funding initiatives or targeted relief measures have emerged. Q1 data highlights on the scale of struggle The economic scoreboard from Q1 depicts an economy in stagnation: GDP grew by just 0.1% in Q1 2025, with agriculture (+15.8%) the only area showing growth. The National Treasury revised 2025 growth expectations downward from 1.6%, from 1.8%. Official unemployment rose to 32.9%, from 31.9%, which translates to a decrease of 54,000 in the labour force. Youth unemployment increased to 46.1% from 44.6% in the first quarter of 2024. While the SME SA Funding Summit 2025 on Thursday, 12 June is expected to explore access to finance, Da Silva stressed that a functioning, reliable environment matters more. How does this affect you? No real relief for entrepreneurs: if you're running a small business, don't hold your breath for targeted funding or tax breaks. Government promises of support remain vague. Price volatility on imports and exports: If Agoa collapses or BRICS moves away from the dollar, expect price changes in imported goods and export delays. Policy fog = business risk: If you're a customer, supplier or entrepreneur, inconsistent policy and mixed messages from government and diplomats create risk, which translates into cautious spending, higher borrowing costs and business hesitancy. Agoa and the diplomatic see-saw South Africa's trade diplomacy with the US remains complicated, but functional for now. Trade Minister Parks Tau and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen delivered a new framework to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on 19 May, laying out a new bilateral trade proposal. 'We met and had a very cordial and constructive meeting with Ambassador Greer… We had a very open and frank exchange about how we can ensure mutually beneficial trade between South Africa and the United States of America,' said Steenhuisen. He further noted that 'the importance of both markets for each other, and obviously a lot of emphasis from the American side [on] wanting to rebalance some of the trade… and from our side, wanting to retain market access'. With Agoa set to expire in September 2025, a renewal is looking uncertain. Da Silva said that 'the complex challenge of either finding alternative markets or restructuring their operations' looms large for SMME suppliers in US markets. 'While the US is not our largest trading partner, it is an important one, with 8% of our exports destined for its shores,' said Maarten Ackerman, chief economist at Citadel. 'Of that 8%, a third is excluded from tariffs, but citrus exporters are likely to be hardest hit.' BRICS Summit brings new questions Then there's the BRICS Summit in Brazil in early July, where stakeholders are expected to discuss mechanisms to alleviate dependency on the dollar. 'For SMEs, particularly those in export-oriented sectors, this diplomatic tightrope walk translates into very real business planning challenges,' Da Silva explained. Navigating dual allegiances between BRICS and the West 'requires SMEs to develop strategies that can withstand diplomatic volatility while capitalising on emerging opportunities', Da Silva said. DM
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
The logic behind Dawie Roodt's conclusion that 'Most South African universities must be closed'
History has no blank pages. Lest we forget the teaching of Hendrik Verwoerd that: 'There is no place for [the Bantu] in the European community above the level of certain forms of Labour…. What is the use of teaching the Bantu child mathematics when it cannot use it in practice'. Exactly 31 years into a democracy, Roodt still dreams of an apartheid where whites saw themselves as the chosen (theologically, racially, politically, economically) nation of South Africa, 'De la Rey, De la Rey, sal jy die Boere kom lei'. A declaration by Roodt that 'most South African universities must be closed' and that only 10% should be allowed at universities is traced in the Afrikaner ideology, apartheid and a view 'net vir die blankes', an education for a few. Apartheid was a policy of segregation and political, social, and economic against black South Africans. The current statistic suggests that there are around 7% whites in the country, and this is the basis of Roodt's argument. In apartheid South Africa, schooling was compulsory for whites but not for Africans. Roodt has exceptions a 3% perhaps for future expansion of the white race or he wants to have exceptions for 'clever blacks' or house negros or Uncle Toms or Tengo Jabavu(s) who might be useful for the system for a whiteness project. Before we rush to conclude and argue that at least the 1953 Bantu Education Act created an opportunity for blacks to study or to even suggest that Verwoerd did not imply exclusion of black in all education, it is important to recall that the Act was created for black South Africans and to prepare them for lives as labouring class. Roodt base his argument on skills relevancy and on performance, and of course, the preceding sentence exposes his background and that his logic is rooted in the Bantu Act.
TimesLIVE
3 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
15 states sue over Trump move to return seized rapid-fire devices for guns
Fifteen Democratic-led US states filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking to block Republican President Donald Trump's administration from returning thousands of previously seized devices that can be used to convert semi-automatic rifles into weapons that can shoot as quickly as machine guns. The states filed the lawsuit in federal court in Baltimore in the wake of the administration's May 16 settlement that resolved litigation involving a ban on certain 'forced-reset triggers' imposed by the government under Trump's Democratic predecessor Joe Biden. The states in the lawsuit said such devices remain illegal to possess under federal law. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under Biden issued the ban after it determined that some of these devices should be classified as illegal machine guns under a federal law called the National Firearms Act. 'We will not stand by as the Trump administration attempts to secretly legalise machine guns in an effort to once again put firearms industry profits over the safety of our residents,' New Jersey attorney-general Matthew Platkin said. The lawsuit was led by New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, and also included the states of Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington as well as the District of Columbia. The Trump administration's settlement reversed course on the Biden administration's policies. The settlement resolved lawsuits brought by a gun rights group challenging the ban and cases brought by Biden's justice department against a manufacturer of the devices. Those cases had resulted in conflicting court rulings over the legality of classifying these devices as illegal machine guns. As part of the settlement, the Trump administration agreed to not apply the machine gun ban to such devices as long as they are not designed for use with handguns and agreed to return nearly 12,000 forced-reset triggers that had been seized by the government to their owners. The new lawsuit seeks to block the return of these devices to their owners. The states said conversion devices like forced reset triggers have been frequently used in recent years in violent crimes and mass shootings, and that at least 100,000 such devices that were distributed nationally in recent years should be considered illegal machine guns. The justice department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
