Classic, luxury, and sporty are not commonly used in the same sentence when referring to sedans. However, the Maserati , I believe, has broken the mould when it comes to exclusive luxury. The quattroporte is effectively a four door version of the drop dead gorgeous Maserati GT (2 door). These vehicles are still hand built and…
Networking as a career management strategy is important as the burden of responsibility for one’s career has shifted from the organisation to the individual, with the notion of employability becoming one’s career goal. Moreover, more and more corporate, government and other organisations see building social capital as an organisational priority. Social capital is ‘the structure…
The recently published King Report on Governance for South Africa 2009 (King III) is very good at telling us what we knew all along but failed to do anything about. It is also very appropriately timed – coming in the midst of the biggest economic crisis in many years. After all, the crisis was allegedly…
Teaching is depressing. Every year, my baldness spreads, my bones calcify, my ear-hair sprouts, and every year, the students walk into class exactly the same age as they were the year before. The other day, a female student waited for everyone else to leave after class, and then told me sweetly that she had a…
If you were to ask me what I view as SAICA’s prime priority, I’d identify it as the maintenance of the highest standards. Virtually all our activities are directed towards this end; it is, indeed, our “raison d’être”. During the course of striving to meet this mandate, we regularly conduct reality checks; something akin to…
CONSOLIDATION OF ZIMBABWEAN SUBSIDIARIES On 29 January 2009, following a period of chronic hyperinflation associated with the Zimbabwean dollar, the acting Finance Minister of Zimbabwe announced that Zimbabwean entities would be permitted to trade in foreign currency. As a result, Zimbabwean entities no longer consider the Zimbabwean dollar to be their functional currency. During the…
This article focuses on customs duty in South Africa, including the role and status of the South African Customs Union (SACU). Introduction In South Africa, customs duty is levied on all products imported into SACU. Interestingly, SACU is the world’s oldest customs union and has its origin in a convention held in 1889 between the…
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have enjoyed significant growth, both locally and globally, over the past few years. This growth has occurred despite significant losses across equity market indices over the past year. According to Black Rock, global ETF assets increased by 45.2% in 2009, which is more than the 30% rise in the MSCI World…
The professional development unit at SAICA is responsible for “delivering competent entry level members” to the profession. As is the case with most of the world around us, we have undergone many changes over the past 12 to 18 months. These changes can be summarised as follows: • Reflection of the Qualification Process for CAs(SA): SAICA’s…
Overall prognosis: A game of two halves; good for all in the first half, less good for some – especially the West and Japan – in the second. My essential prognosis for 2010 is that, whilst the US, Europe and Japan will NOT have a double dip recession in the sense that they will again…