Trump's taxes leaked a little bit

[Daily Maverick] FIRST THING with JOHN STUPART Wednesday, 15 March 2017 “Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort.” Helen Gurley Brown STORY OF THE DAY [SassaGate: CPS contract fiasco just one Sassa worm in a can of many]( By MARIANNE THAMM Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Tuesday spoke of the “higher good” and reassured Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts that government had money to pay social grants from April 1 and that the last hurdle would be who would be legally appointed to do so. But MPs struck another vein in the SassaGate saga which explains, in part, how the crisis came about. Treasury on Tuesday confirmed that it had not approved R45-million ultimately spent on “work streams” headed up by some members of an earlier advisory committee, hand-picked by Minister Bathabile Dlamini to recommend a future payment system. These work streams ran a parallel process to work done by Sassa officials in preparation to take grant payments “in-house” and appear to have been key in negotiating with CPS for a new contract. [Two pages of Trump taxes leaked]( This week appeared to be Donald Trump's turn to face a leak. This time, the much-guarded tax returns, or rather two pages of them, were leaked and published by MSNBC. The leaked files showed Trump paid $38-million on $150-million worth of income. This then begs the question of, if all of Trump's tax files look so normal, why is there so much hesitance to publish them? [Legal hammer for Yahoo hack suspects]( US officials have prepared four indictments and one massive legal headache for four suspects in the 2014 Yahoo hack. Involving three Russians, the indictments may well not see all of the suspects in an American court, particularly given the "state-sponsored" nature of the attack which targeted hundreds of millions of Yahoo user account details. [Spiders consume gigantic portions of insects]( Ever asking the tough questions, science has discovered just how many insects spiders eat a year: 400-800 tonnes to be exact. The Science of Nature journal article indicated that the roughly 25 tonnes of spiders worldwide are critical in eating harmful insects. Some food for thought for sparing the shoe the next time your resident spider-bro comes out to help you eat your household pests. [New Zealand to make do without Boult]( The Proteas are to be bolstered following the news that Trent Boult has been ruled out for Thursday's second Test. A seam-friendly pitch should see plenty of action for both sides, but South African captain Faf du Plessis noted that: "If you lose two key players like that you definitely feel you're a little bit light." — PICTURE OF THE DAY BY EPA/NIC BOTHMA Residents rebuild after a devastating fire in Mandela Park Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa, 14 March 2017. According to the City of Cape Town, over 15,000 residents of Mandela Park have been affected with about 4,500 informal structures gutted by a blaze that swept through Hout Bay on 11 March 2017, claiming at least two lives. IN NUMBERS 8/10 The number of the top 10 most dangerous cities for American pedestrians that are in Florida. FACTS OF THE DAY Today in 1961 South African announced its intention to withdraw from the Commonwealth. By law, Pluto remains a planet in New Mexico. FEATURED ARTICLES [SassaGate: CPS contract fiasco just one Sassa worm in a can of many]( [SassaGate: CPS contract fiasco just one Sassa worm in a can of many]( BY Marianne Thamm [Unchain My Heart: SACP’s exit from the Alliance would alter SA’s political reality]( [Unchain My Heart: SACP’s exit from the Alliance would alter SA’s political reality]( BY Stephen Grootes [Crisis, what crisis? Minister under fire as social grant saga heats up National Assembly]( [Crisis, what crisis? Minister under fire as social grant saga heats up National Assembly]( BY Rebecca Davis [Op-ed: When the State fails to act, the Constitutional Court will be called upon to make decisions of great political significance]( [Op-ed: When the State fails to act, the Constitutional Court will be called upon to make decisions of great political significance]( BY Raymond Suttner [South African ‘Serial’ podcast continues – with a panga fight, a paralysing shootout and talk of a movie (Episode 2)]( [South African ‘Serial’ podcast continues – with a panga fight, a paralysing shootout and talk of a movie (Episode 2)]( BY Paul McNally [SAPS: We’ve got the OR Tambo thieves]( [SAPS: We’ve got the OR Tambo thieves]( BY Greg Nicolson [Op-Ed: What are we doing to ensure that racism is challenged? Let’s #TakeOnRacism]( [Op-Ed: What are we doing to ensure that racism is challenged? Let’s #TakeOnRacism]( BY Derek Hanekom [Reporter’s Parliamentary Notebook: The ‘myth of white monopoly capital’ and some VVIP bums on seats]( [Reporter’s Parliamentary Notebook: The ‘myth of white monopoly capital’ and some VVIP bums on seats]( BY Marianne Merten [ISS Today: SA Parliament seeking fresh ways to oversee the executive]( [ISS Today: SA Parliament seeking fresh ways to oversee the executive]( BY ISS TODAY [Analysis: Mbalula and co's staggering lack of accountability in the wake of Durban’s 2022 failure]( [Analysis: Mbalula and co's staggering lack of accountability in the wake of Durban’s 2022 failure]( BY Antoinette Muller [GroundUp: Insourcing at universities – uneven progress]( [GroundUp: Insourcing at universities – uneven progress]( BY GroundUp [Explainer: How Durban lost the 2022 Commonwealth Games]( [Explainer: How Durban lost the 2022 Commonwealth Games]( BY Antoinette Muller [Francis: People's Pope, four years on]( [Francis: People's Pope, four years on]( BY Russell Pollitt OPINIONISTAS [From the Inside: Real and fake news, sources and anonymity]( [From the Inside: Real and fake news, sources and anonymity]( A column by Helen Zille [Why is science-fiction so white?]( [Why is science-fiction so white?]( A column by Mako Muzenda — Weather BFN: min: 19° max: 30°, cloudy CPT: min: 15° max: 21°, rainy DBN: min: 24° max: 32°, cloudy EL: min: 22° max: 28°, cloudy JHB: min: 14° max: 27°, cloudy KIM: min: 20° max: 32°, cloudy NLP: min: 12° max: 31°, cloudy PMB: min: 14° max: 33°, rainy PE: min: 19° max: 22°,cloudy PTA: min: 15° max: 29°, sunny Financial Data Oil=$50.74 Gold=$1,203.53 Platinum=$938.35 R/$=13.15 R/€=13.96 R/£=15.99 $/€=1.06 JSE All Share=51,699.46 DJIA=20,835.79 FTSE 100=7,357.85 [FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND]( Copyright © 2017 Daily Maverick, All rights reserved. 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