According to recent research by website A Passion for Homes, it seems that the most off-putting thing for a potential buyer on a house viewing is not what they see, but what they smell! An online survey by the interior design, dream homes and products website found that 32% of respondents said the worst thing [...]Odours Stop House Sale is a post from: Home n Spire


more Home Inspiration news ...

Abu Dhabi, UAE. 27 November, 2013. The superstars of Triathlon continue to make their way to Abu Dhabi with reigning Olympic Champion Alistair Brownlee and his brother Jonathan, 2012 World Champion both confirmed to open their seasons in the Emirate on March 15th. Now entering its 5th year on the calendar, the Abu Dhabi International [...]Brownlees for Abu Dhabi 2014 is a post from: Time-to-Tri


more [url=http://www.time-to-tri.com/pre-event/brownlees-for-abu-dhabi-2014Triathlon news ...[/url]

An agreement between the South African Government and People’s Republic of China in committing to fight the illegal exploitation of wildlife crime has yielded positive results, with the return of poached rhino horn and elephant ivory back to South Africa. A consignment of 33 rhino horns and a large number of elephant ivory products seized [...]Poached rhino horns returned is a post from: EconSpire


read more Eco News ..

Online entries for the 2014 Old Mutual Two Oceans Trail Run will open at 10h00 on Monday, 2 December 2013. Since its introduction to the line-up of events hosted under the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon umbrella in 2010, the trail run has enjoyed tremendous popularity and success, with entries for the 2013 event selling [...]Two Oceans Trail Run Entries opening soon is a post from: Trail Running South Africa


read more South Africa Trail Running news

The newly established Gauteng Transport Commission (GTC) is set to improve transport service delivery, making sure this vital sector works better in South Africa’s economic hub.

The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport and all municipalities in the province today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the GTC.

After signing the memorandum, the Commission held its inaugural meeting in Johannesburg.

The principal aims of the GTC are to facilitate the implementation of the 5-Year Gauteng Transport Implementation Plan (GTIP5) and the proposed 25-Year Integrated Transport Master Plan (ITMP25). It will also ensure a safer, reliable, affordable and sustainable transport sector.

More specifically, the GTC will enable smoother planning and co-ordination in the following core areas:

· Integrated rail planning in the province;

· The promotion of standardised Intelligent Transport Systems, particularly in respect of integrated ticketing, integrated fare management, passenger transport information and traffic management;

· The development and integration of Bus Rapid Transport Systems (BRT);

· The support of sustainable transport options, including non-motorised transport (NMT);

· The effective implementation and integration of travel demand management; and

· Fostering co-operation with relevant stakeholders on matters relating to transport.

The GTC will be overseen by a Governing Body consisting of the MEC of Roads and Transport and the Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) responsible for Transport in their respective municipalities and supported by an Advisory Panel of transport specialists.

Its day-to-day operations will be administered by the Secretary of the Commission, who will provide administrative, technical and professional support to the Governing Body.

The Secretary will develop an annual operational plan based on the core areas of work of the Commission and manage the projects, activities and programmes of the Commission.

Funding for the operations of the GTC will be determined and provided for by the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport.

The participating municipalities are the City of Johannesburg; City of Tshwane; Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality; West Rand District Municipality; Sedibeng District Municipality; Lesedi Local Municipality; Midvaal Local Municipality; Randfontein Local Municipality; Westonaria Local Municipality; Merafong City Local Municipality; Mogale City Local Municipality, and Emfuleni Local Municipality. - SAnews.gov.za

A third medical male circumcision clinic will be opened in the North West as part of a provincial campaign to reduce the risk of HIV infection amongst men.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the risk of HIV is reduced by 60% if a man is circumcised.

In the North West, 18.9% of the entire population is estimated to be HIV-infected while 30.2% of pregnant women live with the virus.

“The opening of (the) clinic in Phokeng comes after three clinical trials found that circumcised men were considerably less likely to contract HIV from their female partners,” said provincial health spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane.

The clinic will run in conjunction with the Centre for HIV and Aids Prevention Studies (CHAPS) and it will be able to perform over 200 circumcisions per week.

Lekgethwane said the clinic will be opened at the Bafokeng Community Health Centre in Phokeng near Rustenburg on Thursday in the runup to World Aids Day on December 1.

“This site is one of three high volume sites currently operating in the North West province. Medical male circumcision is also available free of charge at all hospitals, community health centres and various clinics across the province.

“But we would also like to emphasise that even though circumcision reduces the risk of contracting HIV by up to 60%, it does not mean that men must stop using condoms. It has been proven that condoms reduce this risk even further,” Lekgethwane said.

He said at least 14 000 young men need to be circumcised in the province over the next two years.

"Circumcision is a very safe procedure. Only 1-2% of all circumcisions have a problem – in most instances, it is minor and resolved within a few days. Men who are circumcised can go back to school or work the next day.

"It takes about two hours at the clinic to be circumcised – this includes HIV testing, counselling about circumcision and the procedure itself. The actual circumcision takes about 15 minutes,” Lekgethwane said.

Lekgethwane added that three clinical trails done in Uganda, Kenya and Orange Farm in South Africa showed consistent results that male circumcision reduces the risk of HIV for a circumcised heterosexual man.

“We must also remind our people that testing for HIV is routine and free at every government health facility,” he said.

The North West will commemorate World Aids Day in Moshana village, a farming community outside Zeerust. Premier Thandi Modise will reintroduce the HIV counselling and testing campaign, which encourages people to get tested.

According to Lekgethwane, the South African government plans to circumcise more than four million men by 2016. – SAnews.gov.za

South Africa’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 0.7% in the third quarter of 2013 compared to a revised 3.2% growth in the second...

read more Southern Africa Business News...

The South African government has welcomed the Geneva agreement between world powers and Iran agreeing to a temporary freeze of its nuclear programme. According to the six-month agreement — reached between the US, China, Russia, the UK, France and Germany — Iran will curb some of its nuclear activities and receive US $7 billion in [...]Agreement on Iran nuclear power is a post from: All4Data


more News Publishing ...

South Africa and Turkey should form an alliance to exploit opportunities in their respective markets, says Trade and Industry (dti) Deputy Minister...

read more Southern Africa Business News...

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has again recorded a remarkable growth in the levels of tax compliance, with 6.09 million income tax returns submitted for the 2013 Tax Season.

This means 91.5% of taxpayers, who were eligible to submit a tax return this year, did so on-time -- an increase of 5.5% from 2012.

The total number of returns received by the deadline of 22 November 2013 is 7.7% higher than in 2012, despite the fact the threshold to submit a tax return was substantially increased by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's 2013 Budget.

The threshold adjustment removed the administrative obligation for thousands of taxpayers to submit a return if they earned income below R250 000 a year and did not submit any claims for a tax refund.

Gordhan said: “The growth in the number of tax returns filed, despite an increase in the threshold for submitting a return from R120 000 to R250 000, shows the continued growth in tax compliance by fellow South Africans.

“The ability to collect tax revenue from individual and corporate citizens to finance the provision of public services and the provision of socio-economic infrastructure has been one of the cornerstones of our democracy these past 20 years. On behalf of government, I thank all our taxpayers for submitting their tax returns on time - you make SA proud!”

Administrative penalties

As part of the total submissions, SARS also received 1.55 million outstanding returns from previous years, which is 13.3% (182 000) higher than the 1.4 million outstanding returns submitted by the 2012 deadline.

This indicates that the administrative penalties that SARS imposes for outstanding returns are having the desired effect of improving compliance levels.

Of the 1.55 million outstanding returns received from previous years, defaulting taxpayers paid a SARS total of R674 million in penalties. SARS said it would continue to impose penalties against taxpayers who do not submit their returns.

Contributing to the Personal Income Tax System

The annual Tax Season represents one of the biggest, direct engagements between a public institution of the South African government and a growing body of millions of economically active citizens in the country.

Anyone who was formally employed during 2012/13 was required to be registered with SARS, whether they were liable for income tax or not.

Employers deduct PAYE from all taxpayers who are formally employed if they earn more than the tax threshold. PAYE deductions are then paid to SARS by the employer.

On 31 March 2013, there were 15.3 million individuals who were registered for Personal Income Tax although almost 9 million were likely to have earned less than the tax threshold; they also contributed to revenue collection, through consumption taxes like VAT.

Benefits of automation and electronic filing

Seven years into the modernisation journey of the income tax system, the migration from manual returns to electronic submission – via eFiling or at a SARS branch office – is almost absolute, with 99.86% of all returns submitted electronically (98.86% in 2012).

Only 6 471 manual or paper returns were submitted this year. SARS assisted many millions of taxpayers at branch offices to submit 2.7 million returns electronically, an increase of 6.1% compared to 2012.

Returns submitted on eFiling by taxpayers themselves totalled 3.3 million, 7.7% higher than in 2012.

Combating fraud in the Tax System

Working with the South African Police Service (SAPS) in combating fraud, SARS has arrested 38 individuals who are alleged to have submitted fraudulent claims for tax refunds.

The cases are at various stages of criminal prosecution before the courts. SARS is in the process of recovering about R29.2 million that has been fraudulently claimed as tax refunds.

SARS will continue to combat such abuse of the tax system and must caution all taxpayers not to disclose personal information - ID number, tax number, banking details, eFiling log-on details and password – to any third party who promises them a tax refund.

Tax Refunds

Faster turn-around times in assessing returns have enabled SARS to pay income tax refunds much quicker.

Since the start of the Tax Season on 1 July 2013, refunds of R14.26 billion were paid to 2 million taxpayers, which is R1.4 billion higher than the 2012 figure. In the same period, SARS paid 94.9% of all refunds within 72 hours.

Tax refunds are a direct contribution to the domestic economy and household incomes.

Payments from taxpayers this year amounted to R4.7 billion which is R1 billion (27.4%) more than the R3.69 billion paid in 2012. - SAnews.gov.za