Possible interest rate cut forecast for SA

Interest rate cut

Johannesburg – Bank of America Merrill Lynch is forecasting another 50 basis-point (bp) rate cut for South Africa in November and believes the country’s first rate hike since 2008 is only likely to occur in the first quarter of 2014.

The bank also forecasts that inflation is likely to remain within the South African Reserve Bank's (SARB) 3%-6% target range over the coming year.

“In the very near term‚ we expect a little more inflation pressure in Q3 2012 than we had previously but this is still likely to dissipate in Q4. In H1 2013‚ we also expect stronger inflation relative to our previous forecasts but expect this to ease nicely late into the year‚” the bank said in a report.

“All things considered‚ we expect headline consumer price index to back up to 5.4% by September on higher petrol prices.

Thereafter‚ despite food price inflation picking up from 5.4% in July to 9.7% in December‚ weaker goods (ex energy) inflation into year-end from a sharp slowdown in economic growth to below 2% annualized in both Q3 and Q4‚ will likely combine to take headline inflation back down to 5.2% by year-end. 

"If is also worth noting that the rally in US dollar/rand over the past week to the 8.20 level may also lead to some petrol price relief from October‚ assuming the Rand holds these levels in coming days and weeks.

“From the perspective of the SARB‚ the combination of the weaker activity data we expect in coming months together with a probable moderation in inflation from October will likely provide the backdrop for a 50bp cut in November‚ in our view‚” the bank added.
It believes the late 2012 trend toward lower inflation will reverse into 2013‚ adding that it has revised its inflation forecasts higher for H1 2013.

“In the main this represents ongoing pass-through into food price inflation which will likely accelerate to 14% year-on-year in H1 2013‚ on average‚ as categories such as meat and diary respond to higher maize prices with a lag of about 9 months in our inflation model. 

"While this upward effect is tempered by a further moderation in goods (ex energy) inflation‚ headline nevertheless moves higher to 5.6% by mid-year‚ with a chance of a temporary peak around the 6% mark moving into Q3.

"Evidence of higher inflation will likely put a break on any further easing by the SARB‚ in our view‚ and is the principal reason we forecast only one further rate cut to come (to 4.5%) in November this year‚” the bank stated.

Pressure from food prices is likely to dissipate in H2 2013‚ in the bank’s view‚ allowing for headline inflation to moderate‚ assuming our assumptions that oil prices fall back below $100 and dollar/rand tracks around an 8.00 level prove correct.

“We see headline inflation moderating back to 5.2% by end-2013‚ which will likely occur against the backdrop of improving economic growth. Taken together‚ we believe this will allow the SARB to remain on the sidelines. We therefore expect the repo rate will be left at the level of 4.5% into early 2014.”

The bank said its new inflation forecasts support the notion that the SARB will operate in three distinct Acts. Into late 2012‚ inflation already below 6% will likely moderate back toward 5% amid weakening activity data. 

This combination will reinforce the SARB’s dovish‚ growth-orientated outlook and is likely to lead to a 50bp cut in November. 

Act Two‚ of rising inflation in H1 2013‚ will probably see the SARB on the sidelines‚ notwithstanding potentially soft economic growth. 

In Act Three‚ even through economic growth is likely to pick up in H2 2013‚ moderating inflation implies no need for the SARB to rush to hike rates.

“We therefore see rates on hold at 4.5% throughout 2013 and see the earliest possible hike in Q1 2014.”


Source : Fin24.com
Tags : rate, rate cut, interest rate cut, interest rate south africa, reserve bank, repo rate, repo rate news 

Read more »

rand slipping against dollar affecting prices

South African soybeans, wheat and yellow corn rose as a weaker currency neutralized lower prices in the U.S.

The most active soybean contract, for delivery in December, rose 0.5 percent to 5,600 rand ($640) a metric ton in Johannesburg, while the commodity lost 0.6 percent to $15.40 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade by 12:28 p.m.

The rand declined 1.3 percent, the most since Oct. 5, to 8.7542 a dollar.
“Soybeans were down substantially in Chicago,” Brink van Wyk, a trader at BVG (Pty) Ltd, said by phone from Pretoria. “The rand neutralized this movement.”

The price of soybeans in Chicago declined after a U.S. Department of Agriculture report showed that 80 percent of the current harvest was collected by Oct. 21 compared with an average of 69 percent from 2007 to 2011.

Wheat is trading at import parity, or the price paid to deliver it in South Africa, Van Wyk said. The most actively traded contract, for delivery in December, rose for the fourth day, gained 0.4 percent to 3,611 rand a ton.

Yellow corn, used mainly as animal feed, rose 0.1 percent to 2,539 rand a ton. White corn, which is a staple in South Africa, declined for a second day, losing 0.8 percent to 2,509 rand a ton with 2,032 contracts bought and sold.

“Speculators are busy in the white corn market,” Van Wyk said. “They can get in and out of the market as there are large volumes of contracts.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jaco Visser in Johannesburg at avisser3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net

Source : bloomberg.com
Tags : rand, rand strength, weak rand, rand vs dollar, rand exchange, soybeans prices, wheat prices, corn prices, south africa economy

Read more »

Tuks flying to second place on log

University of Pretoria are hot on the heels of log leaders Kaizer Chiefs after a 2-1 win against Bloemfontein Celtic yesterday afternoon.

In the 18th minute, Mame Niang opened the scoring for rookies, University of Pretoria, to net his fifth goal of the season.When it seemed Amatuks would go to the break with a lead, Letladi Madubanye levelled matters in the 42nd minute.

There was little goal mouth action in the second half, but Bongani Zungu sealed victory for AmaTuks in the 71st minute.In another match played yesterday, Orlando Pirates played to a one all draw against Amazulu at the Orlando Stadium.

On numerous occasions in the first half, Amazulu could have embarrassed Pirates at home but goalkeeper Moneeb Josephs came to the rescue.

In the 78th minute Oupa Manyisa, thunderous shot was tipped away by Amazulu goalkeeper Philani Zikalala. Mark van Heerden nearly caused a major upset in the dying minutes of the game when he forced a save from Josephs.

Source : sabc.co.za
Tags : tuks, tuks soccer, university of pretoria, tuks team, psl, psl log, kaizer chiefs

Read more »

E-toll taffifs latest reductions

Pretoria - The e-toll tariff for light vehicles with e-tags has been reduced to 30c/km, Sanral said on Friday.

This was down from the 40c/km decided on last year, Sanral toll and traffic manager Alex van Niekerk told reporters in Pretoria.

The base tariff for light vehicles would remain at 58c/km.

Van Niekerk was giving a SA National Roads Agency Limited presentation on the Gauteng highway e-toll system.

Part of the presentation was the tariff history.

He said the e-tag tariff for motorcycles had been dropped from 24c/km to 18c/km, for medium heavy vehicles (Class B) from R1/km to 75c/km, and heavy vehicles (Class C) from R2/km to R1.50/km.

Transport Minister Ben Martins said government had proposed that toll fees for e-tag users be capped at R550 a month for light vehicles.

Van Niekerk said only about 0.2 percent of Gauteng road users would pay the e-toll cap.

About 78.5 percent of motorists using the freeway were expected to pay less than R100 a month, using e-tags, he said.

About 91.3 percent would pay less than R200 and 96.3 percent would pay less than R300. - Sapa

Source: iol.co.za
Tags: e tags,sanral, etoll, toll tariffs, toll tariffs reduces
Gr8insurance

Get our Andriod App at - http://db.tt/qECWELPu

Read more »

e toll committe meets cabinet

e toll

The inter-ministerial committee (IMC) on e-tolling met Cabinet on Wednesday, government spokesman Thabo Masebe said.

"I can confirm that the IMC did report to Cabinet on the consultations and made recommendations," he said.

"However, I can't tell you more about the recommendations, but Cabinet would make an announcement at the post-Cabinet briefing. I don't speak for Cabinet, so I can't say what would be announced."

The government's plans to introduce e-tolling in Gauteng have provoked stiff opposition from motorists and residents of South Africa's economic heartland.

The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) said it would not be surprised if the IMC had indicated that e-tolling would be pursued.

"We have clearly read between the lines with all our interactions with them, and all the signs point to e-tolls being implemented," Outa chairman Wayne Duvenage said.

"They are more likely to recommend to reduce the fees and get funding from increasing the fuel levy and other measures. But the consultation process happened too late."

Duvenage said Outa had done research on other countries, including Britain and America, where e-tolls were implemented and collapsed.

"We are not saying don't pay for the roads, it's just the mechanism being used to pay... It's government's role to implement mechanisms that have the least negative effect on society."

Last month, the Constitutional Court overturned an interim order which had put a hold to the Gauteng e-tolling project.

On April 28 the High Court in Pretoria granted Outa the interdict, ruling that a full review needed to be carried out before electronic tolling could be put into effect.

The interdict prevented Sanral from levying or collecting e-tolls pending the outcome of the review.

Sanral and National Treasury appealed against the order, and said the delays prevented recouping the payment incurred in building the freeways and gantries.

The review was expected take place in the High Court in Pretoria on November 26.

Source : iafrica.com
Tags : e toll, e-toll, gauteng tolls, toll fees, etoll fees,e toll news, sa cabinet, imc,

Read more »

SARS tax revenue forecast latest

South Africa grew its tax revenue by R68.5-billion in 2011/12 to total R742.6-billion, R3.9-billion more than forecast by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in his 2012/13 Budget, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) reports.

SA Tax Payer

Releasing its 2012 Tax Statistics report on Monday, Sars noted that the 10% increase in tax revenue in the 2011/12 financial year (from R674-billion in 2010/11) stood in marked contrast to 2009/10, when tax revenue contracted by four percent,following the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

As he prepares to present his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement on Thursday and amid continuing uncertain economic times for South Africa, Gordhan will welcome the almost R4-billion in extra tax.

Sars' report says that, in comparison with its international counterparts, South Africa has withstood the crisis relatively well, maintaining sustainable budget deficits aided by resilient tax collections.

The Receiver attributed this to its modernisation programme, a responsive tax policy, and vigilant compliance-enhancing measures.

Companies, personal contributions increase
The growth in tax collections in 2011/12 was driven largely by significant increases in Company Income Tax (CIT) and Personal Income Tax (PIT).

CIT, which makes up about a fifth of all fiscal contributions, was up 15% from R133-billion in 2010/11 to R152.6-billion last year. PIT, which makes up a third of all tax contributions, increased by 10%, from R227-billion to R250-billion.

VAT, which makes up a further quarter of tax contributions, grew by four percent, from R184-billion to R191-billion. Customs duties grew 26%, from R27-billion to R34-billion.

However, with the slowing in the disposal assets and decline in asset values, Capital Gains Tax (CGT) fell from R9.1-billion in 2010/11 to R6.8-billion in 2011/12.

According to the report, between 2005/06 and 2011/12, tax relief totaling R60.5-billion was granted to individuals, mainly to those in lower income brackets, with almost a third of this (R19.1-billion) granted in 2006/07.

Tax register for individuals surges
The report also reveals that the tax register for individuals surged 74.7%, from 10.3-million in 2010/11 to 13.7-million in 2011/12, following a new Sars policy which requires employers to register all employees regardless of their income.

Of the 4.5-million assessed taxpayers, 40.2% were registered in Gauteng, 56% were male, and 27.5% were aged between 25 and 44 years old.

As at March 31 this year, there were just over two-million companies, 652 349 VAT vendors, 247 595 importers and 224 216 exporters registered with Sars.

The number of companies on the tax register has grown from 1.8-million in 2009 to just over 2.03-million as of March 31 this year. Of these, a third (791 5730) of companies were liable to submit CIT and, as of March 31, 51.5% or 407 286 companies had been assessed for tax.

Electronic filing, or e-filing, accounted for 64.6% of the value of tax payments in 2011/12, up from 30.8% in 2007/8. The remainder of tax payments were made by taxpayers at banks and at Sars branches.

South Africa's total taxes to gross domestic product (GDP) increased marginally, from 24.5% in 2010/11 to 24.6% in 2011/12, but this ratio was still below the peak of 27.6% reached before the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

The ratio of CIT to GDP was most affected by the crisis, declining from 7.3% of GDP in 2008/09 to 5.1% of GDP in 2011/12.

Source: SANews.gov.za
Tags : tax, sars tax, tax payers, paye tax, sars revenue, business tax capital gains tax

Read more »

Saving money the compound interest advantage

Cape Town - You've probably heard the term before: compound interest. But do you really understand how this works?

Compound interest is what allows a very average saver to become a wealthy individual. What's the secret? The value of compound interest is not in saving vast amounts – instead, it's all about when you start saving.
According to Danelle van Heerde, head: advice processes and tools at Sanlam Personal Finance, it is important to understand the basic principle of compound interest.

Piggy Bank

"It's effectively earning interest on interest on interest. So, once you have put your savings aside, however insignificant it may seem, you do not have to do anything, bar watch your money increase.
"It's the best way for your money to grow over the long term."

Van Heerde shows the strength of compound interest by taking a saving of just R250 per month. "For many savers, R250 amounts to a single trip to your local store to stock up on groceries."

Put another way; imagine taking just R8 out of your purse daily, and setting it aside.
How does compound interest work?

If you save R250 a month between the ages of 24 and 30, you will, according to Van Heerde's calculation, have accumulated more at age 65 than someone who saves the same amount monthly from age 35 to 65.

In the first example, you have actively put away R250 for six years, or 72 months, amounting to R18 000 without interest. In the second, you've actively saved R250 for 30 years, or 360 months, worth R90 000.
And somehow you will still have more at age 65.

It works like this:

- If you put R250 away monthly between 24 and 30, and then leave those savings in your account, you'll be worth R479 453 by age 65.

This is based on an interest rate of 9% (Van Heerde says this is calculated assuming 6% inflationary returns, plus 5% real returns, with 2% subtracted for fees).

- On the flip side, put away R250 between 35 and 65, and you'll only end up with R425 528. "The difference is in the extra amount of time that your savings have to earn interest or compound, starting at age 24 instead of 35," she says.

How can it benefit you if you'd like to save for your children's education?

This lesson is an important one for parents in particular. School and university fees are becoming increasingly burdensome on parents – but making use of compound interest is a great way to reduce this load.

Source fin 24
Tags : saving money, compound interest, sa saving money, finacial freedom

Read more »

Water shortage scenario for South Africa

Water

Water infrastructure requires investment of 670 billion rand ($76 billion) over the next decade, the Department of Water Affairs said in an Aug. 17 study. That’s almost double the available funding, leaving a gap of 338 billion rand. The report says businesses need to anticipate supply disruptions, higher bills and more regulation in a country that gets less rain than neighbors Namibia and Botswana, famed for their deserts.

South Africa’s platinum and coal industries, two of the country’s top four exporters, are already struggling to secure water supplies for new projects.

“Water is certainly one of the major risks that we look at,” said Paul Skivington, group executive for strategy and risk at Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP), the world’s second- largest producer of the precious metal. “It’s not something you can generate. It’s either there or it’s not.”

SUPPLY SHORTAGES
Leaking pipes and inefficient irrigation already wastes at least half the clean water in some areas, according to the study. While rains over the past 16 years have helped avert shortages, the government expects demand to outstrip supply by 2025-2030, constraining farming and mining.

The dilemma is shared around the world as the United Nations projects that about 30 countries will be water-scarce by 2025, compared with 20 in 1990. Chinese officials in February said water shortages are growing, with two-thirds of the cities suffering a dearth. Concerns over water have led farmers in India to block roads and rail lines, even committing suicide, to protest coal plant construction that affects irrigation supplies. Water shortages and grazing land disputes in Kenya, East Africa’s biggest economy, have led to deadly conflicts.

In South Africa, water use has surged since apartheid’s end in 1994. The economy has more than doubled in size and 95 percent of the 50.6 million population now has access to potable water within 200 meters (656 feet) of their homes. From 1995 to 2005 municipal water use per capita rose by 38 percent, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

POWER SHORTAGES
Investment in water infrastructure has lagged behind as the government focuses on other spending priorities, including new power plants to avoid a repeat of electricity shortages that shut mines and factories in 2008.

Power projects account for about 61 percent of 3.2 trillion rand worth of infrastructure projects the government is considering implementing by 2020, while water accounts for just 2 percent, according to the National Treasury.

“There’s no water for expansion,” said Greeff, a third- generation farmer who exports table grapes and provides jobs for 20 families. “Industries and towns get bigger and bigger and then they take water away from the farmers.”

Farming uses about 60 percent of South Africa’s water, while about 5.5 percent goes to mines and factories. The country is the world’s biggest orange exporter and matches the U.S. as the world’s largest grapefruit exporter, U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows.

EXPORT GENERATOR
While most mines have sufficient water, platinum operations in arid areas risk running dry, Nikisi Lesufi, senior executive of health and environment at the Chamber of Mines, said in an interview. Platinum mines employed 182,000 people in 2010, 37 percent of the mining workforce, Chamber data shows.

Water scarcity constitutes a “very real” threat, Johannesburg-based Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS), the world’s largest producer of the metal, said in a 2011 report.

Impala needs additional water for its Afplats project and the company is trying to cut use at all its mines and plants, Skivington said in an interview from Johannesburg.

Insufficient water could prove the biggest constraint to mining coal in the Waterberg region, Exxaro Resources Ltd. (EXX) said on its website. Waterberg, in Limpopo Province, has about 75 billion metric tons of it, or 40 percent of South Africa’s coal resources, state power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. says.

WATER NEEDED
“The coal resources in this province without further water supply will not be able to be exploited,” Xavier Prevost, an industry consultant, said from Pretoria.

South Africa’s biggest water consumer is Eskom, which generates about 95 percent of the country’s power. Eskom has started a 500 billion-rand expansion to avoid blackouts, placing pressure on resources as it is given priority.

“We see water costs more than doubling in five years,” Nandha Govender, Eskom’s general manager of water and environmental affairs, said from Muldersdrift, north of Johannesburg.

The government seeks to curtail demand and waste and is pushing for greater use of groundwater, recycling and desalination.

“We don’t want development to be held back,” Helgaard Muller, deputy director-general at the water affairs department, said in Pretoria on August 27. “We can stretch what we have.”

Greeff doesn’t have faith in government plans even after President Jacob Zuma pledged in a February address to expand the Clanwilliam dam on which he relies.

“It will take donkey years,” Greeff said.

Source : moneyweb.co.za
Tags : water, water supply, water south africa, south africa water shortage, water shortage

Read more »

Windows 8 vs MS revenue

Operating income down 26 per cent as revenues slide

Microsoft is reporting a $16.03bn revenue haul in what was a decidedly down financial quarter for the company.

Overall, the Redmond giant saw its revenues drop by eight per cent over the same period last quarter, while operating income sank by 26 per cent over the same period in 2011.

The report comes just days before what Microsoft hopes will be its biggest product launch in years. Later this month the company is slated to announce the general availability of its Windows 8 operating system.

"The launch of Windows 8 is the beginning of a new era at Microsoft," said chief executive Steve Ballmer.

"Investments we've made over a number of years are now coming together to create a future of exceptional devices and services, with tremendous opportunity for our customers, developers, and partners."

The company hopes that the launch will more than make up for what was a poor quarter for its Windows and Windows Live division. The unit saw revenues weigh in at $3.24bn, down by some 33 per cent from last year.

There were, however, some bright spots for Microsoft. The company's Server and Tools business hauled in $4.65bn in revenues, up eight per cent from the previous year. That figure could improve as the company continues with its rollout of the Windows

Server 2012 platform.
Online services also performed well for Microsoft, bringing in $697m in revenues and a nine per cent growth over 2011's quarter.

The company reported that its advertising operation had managed to grow revenues by 15 per cent on the year.

Source: V3.co.uk
Tags: Microsoft , Windows 8 , Windows server
Gr8insurance

Get our Andriod App at - http://db.tt/qECWELPu

Read more »

South Africa Scoops Travel Awards

South Africa enjoyed a big share of the spoils in the 2012 World Travel Awards for Africa, winning 32 awards out of a total 57 categories, including leading African airport, beach destination, family resort, city hotel, conference venue, safari lodge and spa resort.

First held in 1994, the World Travel Awards have grown in prestige to become known as "the Oscars" of the tourism industry, with travel agencies, tour and transport companies and tourism organisations across the world voting annually for the winners. The results for Africa were announced last month.

Hotels and resorts
South Africa's hotels and resorts were strong performers in this year's awards. Among the resorts, South Africa's winners were Sun City (in the family resorts category), Palace of the Lost City (casino resorts), the Arabella Hotel & Spa (spa resorts), and the Legend Golf & Safari Resort (sports resorts).

Winners among the hotels were the Sandton Sun (in both the business hotels and city hotels categories), Saxon Boutique Hotel, Villas & Spa (boutique hotels and luxury hotels), The Regent (apartment hotels), the Phantom Forest Eco-Reserve (green hotels), and the No 5 Boutique Art Hotel (town house hotels), while Durban's International Convention Centre was named Africa's leading conference centre.

Wildlife and wilderness tourism
Closer to the wild, South Africa's Shamwari Game Reserve (in both the safari lodges and the conservation companies categories), Thanda Private Game Reserve (luxury game reserves), and Shambala Private Reserve (luxury lodges) all ran out winners.

The country also scored well for responsible tourism, with &Beyond being named leading responsible tourism company as well as leading game reserve brand, and Fish Eagle Safaris winning Africa's Responsible Tourism Award. Fairmont Zimbali was named Africa's leading tourism development project.

Airlines, airports, travel agents
South African Airways was named Africa's leading airline as well as leading airline economy class, and 1time Africa's leading low-cost airline, while Johannesburg's OR Tambo International was voted the leading airport, Durban the leading port, and the Blue Train the leading luxury train on the continent.

South African tourism operators also fared well, with Club Travel (travel agencies), Travel with Flair (business travel agencies as well as travel management companies), and Flightsite.co.za (online travel companies) all winning in their categories.

Africa's Leading Destination
While Cape Town was voted Africa's leading beach destination, the coveted "Africa's Leading Destination" award went this year to the ancient medina of Marrakech in Morocco - which saw off competition from Cape Town and the Kruger National Park, as well as Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and the Kalahari Desert in Namibia.

SAinfo reporter

Source : http://www.southafrica.info
Tags : 2012 world travel awards,South africa, south africa travel, travel awards,Sandton Sun, Palace of the lost city

Read more »

New Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS

Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, is the fastest and smoothest version of Android yet. Jelly Bean improves on the simplicity and beauty of Android 4.0, and introduces a new Google search experience on Android.

We put Android under a microscope, making everything feel fast, fluid, and smooth. With buttery graphics and silky transitions, moving between home screens and switching between apps is effortless, like turning pages in a book.

Android Jelly Bean logo

More reactive and uniform touch responses mean you can almost feel the pixels beneath as your finger moves across the screen. Jelly Bean makes your Android device even more responsive by boosting your device's CPU instantly when you touch the screen, and turns it down when you don't need it to improve battery life.

Expandable, actionable notifications.

Android has always put you in control when it comes to staying notified and connected. Now you can take action directly from the notifications shade. Late for a meeting? Email everyone to let them know. Missed a call? Call them back in an instant. And because they’re expandable, you can get an even deeper look into the things that matter most, like multiple emails or photos on Google+.

Widgets work like magic.

With Jelly Bean it's now even easier to personalize your home screen. As you place widgets on the screen, everything else automatically moves to make room. When they're too big, widgets resize on their own. Interacting with your favorite apps and customizing your home screen has never been easier.

Seamlessly take and share photos.

Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, made snapping photos super fast; Jelly Bean brings that same speed to the next step: viewing. Just swipe over from camera to filmstrip view to instantly view the photos you just took, and quickly swipe away the ones you don’t like. Now sharing — and bragging — are a breeze.

A smarter keyboard.

Android's dictionaries are now more accurate, more relevant. The language model in Jelly Bean adapts over time, and the keyboard even guesses what the next word will be before you've started typing it. With improved text-to-speech capabilities, voice typing on Android is even better; it works even when you don't have a data connection, so you can type with your voice everywhere you go.

Android Beam.

With Android Beam on Jelly Bean you can now easily share your photos and videos with just a simple tap, in addition to sharing contacts, web pages, YouTube videos, directions, and apps. Just touch two NFC-enabled Android devices back-to-back, then tap to beam whatever's on the screen to your friend. Instantly pair your Android phone or tablet to Bluetooth® devices like headsets or speakers that support the Simple Secure Pairing standard by just tapping them together – no more syncing or searching required.

Source : Android.com
Tags : Android, android operating system, android os, jelly bean, android jelly bean, new adroid

Read more »

Announcement HTC One vx and HTC one plus

HTC today took the wraps off the lastest smartphone in its One family of devices, but tucked away in the announcement of the HTC One X+ and One VX was the news that two of its older One smartphones will be upgraded to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean this month.

HTC confirmed that the One S and One X will get Jelly Bean at some point this month, an upgrade it first promised in July. Timing was not released, but these Android updates are usually dependent on the carrier. The One X is available via AT&T, while the One S is offerred by T-Mobile.

The launch of the HTC One X in the U.S. was delayed thanks to a patent battle with Apple, but a software tweak helped HTC gets its device into the country. The One X boasts a huge, 4.7-inch, 1,280-by-720 pixel, non-reflective display. The HTC One S includes a 4.3-inch, 960-by-540-pixel display.

The new HTC One X+ and One VX smartphones, meanwhile, are coming to AT&T. The One X+ is the first U.S. LTE phone with a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor.

Stats released yesterday show that only about 1.8 percent of Android-based devices are currently running Jelly Bean, though that's up slightly from the 1.2 percent it had last month. Gingerbread is still the most popular version with about 56 percent of the market.

Source : PCMag.com
Tags : htc review, htc one, htc one x, new htc phone, new htc Android phone,htc one x+,htc review

Read more »

Weak rand effects on SA economy

Johannesburg - South Africa's rand remained near a 3½ year low on Monday and analysts said it could weaken further in the absence of a resolution to a wave of strikes roiling Africa's biggest economy.

The rand was trading at 8.800 to the dollar at 0701 GMT on Monday, barely changed from Friday's New York close of 8.7900.On Friday, it slumped to as low as 8.85 to the dollar, its weakest level since April 2009, after Anglo American Platinum said it had fired 12,000 wildcat strikers.

Currency

Analysts said the rand could weaken to as low as 9.00 to the dollar unless measures were taken to limit some of the worst labour unrest since the end of apartheid in 1994.

"The market is trading purely on emotion and sentiment," said Garth Klintworth, head of fixed income, commodities and currencies at Absa Capital."Either we get some strong leadership from trade unions or government or business that improves sentiment or we continue to see very poor sentiment and weakness relative to the dollar.

Technically, we could easily get to 9.20."Government bonds continued to sell off on Monday, with the yield on the 2015 bond up 8 basis points to 5.51 percent. That on the 2026 paper was 15 basis points higher at 7.81 percent, its highest level since July. - Reuters

Source : iol.co.za
Tags : rand, rand strength, weak rand, currency news

Read more »

Transport strike updates

Trucks

The SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) will have to soldier on alone in the transport sector strike after three associate unions yesterday accepted a double-digit wage offer made by truck owners.

This came as mining companies continued to dismiss workers who persisted with their unprotected industrial actions.

The fragmentation in the truckers’ strike came after the Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Tawu), the Professional Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Ptawu) and the Motor Transport Workers’ Union, who collectively represent 15 000 employees, accepted a 10 percent pay increase and ended their action yesterday afternoon.

Reckson Baloyi, the general secretary of Ptawu, said the employers had offered 10 percent for 2013, 8 percent for 2014 and 9 percent for the year after.

He said he expected the talks to continue at a later date under the auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

Satawu spokesman Vincent Masoga said its 28 000 members would continue to strike.

Magretia Brown-Engelbrecht, a spokeswoman for the Road Freight Employers Association, said the talks would continue with the four unions.

In the mining sector, Atlatsa Resources Corporation said yesterday that 2 161 employees who had been on strike at Bokoni Platinum Mines since last week, had been dismissed following the granting of a court interdict in favour of Bokoni. Dismissed employees had until the close of business today to appeal their dismissal, the company said.

And Gold One said yesterday that, following appropriate disciplinary procedures, the company had dismissed about 1 435 of the 1 900 employees at its Ezulwini operation following an unprotected strike.

Dismissed employees had until tomorrow to appeal their dismissals.

Strikes continued at Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine in the Northern Cape, where 300 out of 12 700 employees are on strike for salary increases. The Anglo American subsidiary, suspended production at Sishen last Thursday and is losing 120 000 ounces a day.

Thousands of employees at Gold Fields’ Beatrix and KDC West mines, and employees at Harmony Gold’s Kusasalethu mine near Carletonville, are also striking for higher wages.

Production remained at a standstill amid an unprotected strike at AngloGold Ashanti’s Kopanang mine, which had spread to five other operations by September 25.

The talks between gold producers and the National Union of Mineworkers continued under the auspices of the Chamber of Mines yesterday.

Yesterday’s dismissals at Bokoni came after Anglo American Platinum fired 12 000 employees at its Rustenburg operations on Friday. Workers had not returned to work despite repeated calls by the company.

The workers were fired after failing to make representations or to attend their disciplinary hearings.

Those affected were given three days to appeal the decision to fire them. – Wiseman Khuzwayo, Dineo Faku and Sapa

Source : iol.co.za
Tags : transport, transport strike, strikes, south africa strikes, satawu

Read more »

E Tolls Tags Argument Starts

People should not buy e-tags and should protest against the implementation of e-tolls to ensure the government listens, the SA Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) said on Friday.

"This union strongly believes that the pressure of the masses is crucial to forcing government to back down on this blatant extortion," spokesman Tahir Sema said in a statement.

Photo by : ilead.co.za

"We will aim to make the tolls uncollectable and force the government and SA National Roads' Agency [Limited (Sanral)] to find more equitable ways to pay for road improvements."

Earlier, it was announced that a meeting between the inter-ministerial committee on e-tolling and Cosatu, chaired by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, would convene again next week.

"The meeting [on Friday] agreed that more time was needed for both parties to consider the proposals on the table," Motlanthe's spokesman Thabo Masebe said in a statement.

Motlanthe led the government delegation and Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Sidumo Dlamini the labour delegations at the meeting at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

It followed a July 20 consultation.

The IMC had been expected to announce its plans on Friday for implementing e-tolling in Gauteng.

However, Masebe said this would be delayed because the IMC needed time to discuss the issues raised.

Cosatu has mounted a campaign against e-tolling, which it believes is the wrong way to raise money to maintain the country's major roads.

The government's plans to introduce e-tolling in Gauteng have provoked opposition by motorists and residents of South Africa's economic heartland.

Sema said the government should scrap the e-toll project.

"Government must investigate as to who was responsible for steam-rolling these projects past all the relevant processes. This, for us, is highly suspicious, given the amounts of money involved in the various toll road projects."

The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) said it was clear the government intended to launch e-tolling in Gauteng before a court review took place.

This was judging by the comments made by the transport minister urging the public to buy e-tags this week, it said in a statement.

Outa was expecting the IMC to announce it was reducing the e-toll tariff and the capped maximum charge.

Chairman Wayne Duvenage said: They [will] go on the charm offensive to woo the public into believing this is the best option.

"We also believe their announcement will include the acceptance of e-tolling by a few entities that were originally opposed to the plan."

Outa rejected e-tolling under the "user-pays" principle.

Cliff Johnston of the SA National Consumer Union said the collection costs and the burden placed on society were independent of the amount charged per kilometre.

Road users would still have to foot a bill of more than R1.1 billion a year just to cover the electronic toll collection process.

Automobile Association spokesman Gary Ronald said it was worrying that the ETC [Electronic Toll Collection] contracts remained confidential. They should be made public for the citizens who would be paying the toll fees.

The Justice Project SA said it supported Outa.

"JPSA... remains vehemently opposed to this ludicrously costly and inefficient way of collecting funding and paying for infrastructure in our country, effectively privatising public roads and enriching Austrian-based Kapsch TrafficCom," chairman Howard Dembovsky said in a statement.

There was a risk that the e-toll fees could escalate out of control as had happened with other state-owned enterprises, such as Eskom, he said.

Source : Timeslive.co.za
Tags : e toll, etoll , etoll gauteng, sanral, samwu, Sa national consumer union

Read more »