WILL THE MIDLANDS EXPRESS RIDE AGAIN? 

Hopes are high in the Midlands that an initiative to revive a heritage steam train line at Hilton could help counter crime. The local steam heritage association has reached an agreement with Transnet after years of waiting to bring stagnant locomotives back to life and renovate the local station. At the same time, the local community policing forum is fed up with the parastatal not clearing overgrowth along 6 km of track that winds through the town, saying it provides a haven for criminals. Transnet spokesman Mike Asefovitz said the parastatal was meeting with the Hilton Steam Heritage Association and that the first part of the agreement was that the station precinct would be handed over to the association and a local developer on a short-term lease for the urgent and necessary clean-up work and to secure the environment for the longer-term development. Association chairman Grant Fryer said there are presently six locomotives and carriages at the old station, one of which might cost around ZAR100 000 to “return to steam”. Others would cost more than a million. (IOL)

UNREST SHUTS CITY’S DUT CAMPUSES

The Durban University of Technology has suspended its academic programme on its Indumiso and Riverside campuses in Pietermaritzburg, after student unrest on Wednesday. DUT spokesperson Alan Khan confirmed protest action at the Indumiso campus. Issues raised included food prices, students’ failure to get funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and that some B-Tech students had not been unblocked for registration due to outstanding fees. The academic programme at the two campuses was expected to resume on Monday. (IOL)

DISMAY AT HIGHER FUEL LEVIES

The increase in fuel levies announced in the national budget on Wednesday worsens SA’s already "disproportionately high pump prices", BMI Research said this morning. Finance minister Pravin Gordhan announced in his budget speech the general fuel levy would increase by 30c/l and the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy by 9c/l, raising the total tax on petrol to ZAR3.15/l and on diesel to ZAR3/l. BMI said South Africans generally had few alternative travel options, so fuel consumption was unlikely to drop. But a bigger slice of people’s salaries going to paying for petrol meant other areas of the economy would suffer. South Africans already spent a disproportionate share of their total income on fuel — about 3.6% in Q4 2016, BMI said. (BDLive)

MOTORISTS TOAST SURPRISE FUEL PRICE DROP

Rand strength, and a retreat of international petroleum prices, have combined to produce a surprise drop in fuel prices at the end of February. This is according to the Automobile Association (AA), which was commenting on unaudited month-end fuel price data released by the Central Energy Fund (CEF). "Petrol is expected to drop by around seven cents a litre, diesel by about two cents and illuminating paraffin by eight cents," the AA said. But the AA warned that the rise in fuel taxes would see the fuel price picture at the end of March begin with a deficit of 39 cents. "It would take quite a substantial effort from both the Rand and oil prices to offset the tax hikes and prevent higher fuel prices in April," the AA said. (IOL)

STABLE BONDS PUZZLE TRADERS

The South African bond market was relatively stable this morning morning, taking its cue from the Rand, which hovered at its best level to the US Dollar in more than a year. The local currency broke out of its recent trading range yesterday, pulling the bond market along with it, boosted by a Dollar that was weaker on global markets "Thursday proved to be one of those days when traders were left scratching their heads," Rand Merchant Bank analyst Gordon Kerr said. "A solid budget speech and weaker Dollar all transpired to send USD/ZAR lower. This in turn should have seen our bonds rally, and while they did, they didn’t come close to matching the performance of the currency." The yield on the benchmark R186 was at 8.68% in early trade, from 8.66% on Thursday while the Rand was ZAR12.8695 to the Dollar from ZAR12.8684. (BDLive)

CONSUMERS PIN HOPES ON SLOWING INFLATION

Producer inflation slowed more than expected in January, in possible good news for consumer inflation in coming months. The producer price index (PPI) for final manufactured goods — considered the headline producer inflation figure — increased 5.9% in January from a year earlier. That compared with an unrevised 7.1% increased in December. FNB economists had forecast that January’s PPI is would moderate to 6.9%. Food products, beverages and tobacco products were one of the main contributing factors to the January increase, rising 9.5% and accounting for 3.1 percentage points. Food inflation is expected to start moderating as the severe drought that has gripped the country eases in some areas. Compared with a month earlier, producer inflation was up 0.4% in January. (BDLive)

BARCLAYS AFRICA’S ‘DIVORCE SETTLEMENT’ SURPRISES MARKET

Barclays plc has pleasantly surprised the market by agreeing to pay a ZAR12.8 billion "divorce settlement" to subsidiary Barclays Africa, in which it is selling down its majority interest. The payout is expected to significantly reduce the financial pressure on the African subsidiary caused by the separation. The largest share of the amount, ZAR8.6 billion, is set aside for technology, rebranding and related projects. "The agreement now is we have three years to change the brand," Ramos said after the release of the group’s results for the year to December 2016. "We have to change the brand from Barclays." (BDLive)

NERSA CONFIRMS ESKOM 2.2% TARIFF HIKE

The National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) said yesterday Eskom’s tariff increase for 2017-18 would be limited to 2.2% when the new prices come into effect on April 1. The decision is based upon methodology applied by Nersa which has a complex five-year tariff system informed by what it considers "allowable revenue". As Eskom is able to make corrections over the five years to recoup additional revenue it can demonstrate it is entitled to over and above the agreed 8% tariff increase, the reconciliation over the five years now only allows for 2.2% in 2017-18, Nersa said. The coming year is the last of the five-year period. The result is that Eskom will face a revenue shortfall for the coming year as the budget for the period would have assumed an 8% tariff increase, which is the approved tariff each year over the period. (BDLive)

LIBERTY BLAMES EARNINGS SLIDE ON TOUGH TIMES

A challenging consumer environment, lower investment returns and a decline in earnings from Stanlib were the main drivers behind Liberty’s 38.8% slide in normalised headline earnings for the year to end-December 2016. Normalised headline earnings of ZAR2.5 billion, represented a 37% drop in operating earnings on the previous comparable period and a 42% decline in earnings from the shareholder investment portfolio, which was hit by weak equity markets, Liberty said. Headline earnings from the group’s South African retail operations of R1.1bn were 40% behind the year-earlier period. The high value of policy surrenders and maturities drove net customer cash inflows in that business 70% lower to ZAR1.9 billion. These were attributable to the challenging consumer environment, Liberty said. (BDLive)

IS OZ ICON A REEF TOO FAR TO RESCUE?

Australia’s plan to rescue the beleaguered Great Barrier Reef has been set back at least two decades after the fragile ecosystem suffered its worst-ever bleaching last year, experts said. The vast coral reef — which provides a tourism boon for Australia — is under pressure from agricultural run-off, the crown-of-thorns starfish, development and climate change. Last year swathes of coral succumbed to devastating bleaching, due to warming sea temperatures, and the reef’s caretakers have warned it faces a fresh onslaught in the coming months. With heavy use of coal-fired power and a relatively small population of 24-million, Australia is considered one of the world’s worst per capita greenhouse gas polluters. Researchers highlighted that the government’s rescue plan did not do enough to address climate change, noting that "new coal mines pose a serious threat" to the reef’s heritage area. (AFP)

Are your trustees’ resolutions in place?

In a discretionary trust, the trustees need to exercise their discretion and award income and/or capital gains to the beneficiaries before the end of each tax year.  This is to comply with the Income Tax Act that requires any such award to vest in the beneficiaries before the 28th February.  
 
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Article by Hannah Szudrawski

 Tel: 033 355 3119
Email: hannah@venns.co.za 
Website: www.venns.co.za

EFFECTIVE DELEGATION, GIVING INSTRUCTIONS & HOW TO BE ASSERTIVE

TRAINER:  Brenda Eckstein – Brenda Eckstein International  
08:30 – 12:30, Chamber House, Royal Showgrounds
COST (includes vat) Members: R630 p/p, R600 p/p for 3/more, R550 p/p for 5/more. Non-members: R730 p/p, R700 p/p for 3/more, R650 p/p for 5/more
Poor communication is often stated as a major problem in firms and businesses and prevents progress. Improve your skills in this training session and you’ll get better results and have more time for strategic issues.
The purpose of this training is to enhance your skills and enable you to achieve better results by:
•    Practising and applying the simple BEI ‘10-step approach to delegating effectively’. 
•    Saving time when delegating through having positive results thus allowing more time for you to engage in strategic and other important activities.
•    Giving instructions more effectively.
•    Knowing when to delegate and when to instruct.
•    Confidently expressing yourself using a simple assertiveness formula thus achieving better results and avoiding aggression ………   And much more!
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Leaders, managers and others interested in communicating more effectively.