Lead: LIFESTYLE: Motoring and Travel

Mercedes 350 CLS Shooting Brake This is a totally new breed of car from Mercedes Benz, a four-door coupé with a twist – as it’s also a station wagon. This new concept design ensures the CLS Shooting Brake stands out from the crowd. Its front end is almost identical to the conventional CLS design, including…

Lead: Profile: Introducing Godfrey Mongatane CA(SA)

Introducing Godfrey Mongatane CA(SA) These words by America’s first black president echo the sentiments and drive of Godfrey Mongatane, a proud recipient of The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Thuthuka Bursary Fund (TBF). Mongatane is a technical learning manager at the Office of the Auditor-General, and a recently qualified chartered accountant CA(SA). The…

LEAD: Cover Story: The quiet listener

The quiet listener who’s made a big noise in business Sizwe Errol Nxasana is a man who has used his CA(SA) qualification to the maximum. If he had to do it all again, he says he would choose the CA(SA) path “many times over”. “It teaches you how any business works, and it has enabled…

INFLUENCE: Special Feature: Financial Services

Making the most of extended SAM timelines Since the end of 2012, when it became apparent that the implementation of Solvency II will be delayed past its planned 1 January 2014 date, there have been growing concerns and different views across the South African insurance industry about how Solvency Assessment and Management (SAM) would be…

DEVELOP: ANALYSIS

OFFSHORE INVESTMENT in the spotlight As governments target offshore structures for tax avoidance, their other advantages come to the fore. Offshore structures. There was a time when South Africans who didn’t have them, wanted them, and when those who did, couldn’t talk about it. In recent years, however, more relaxed exchange controls allow greater flexibility…

DEVELOP: VIEWPOINT

Financial statements The frustration continues… As part of their research and teaching activities, many accounting academics spend a lot of time poring over published financial statements. Strangely, some of them find this work fascinating. To most people, an enthusiasm for reading accounting reports is about as comprehensible as, say, an infatuation with spoon collecting. But…

DEVELOP: THE WORLD

20 fastest growing global companies Company Earnings growth Revenue Growth Total Return 1 Silver Wheaton 340% 76% 49% 2 Cirrus Logic 450% 39% 88% 3 Baidu 99% 72% 56% 4 HollyFrontier 93% 51% 64% 5 HFF 341% 41% 53% 6 lululemon athletica 81% 45% 109% 7 Northern Oil and Gas 122% 237% 36% 8 Apple…

DEVELOP: UP-TO-DATE

Updated carbon tax policy paper The National Treasury published the Carbon Tax Policy Paper, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating the transition to a green economy for public comment. This is the second and final round of comments requested on carbon tax policy, before government proceeds with the publication of draft legislation to give effect…