Prizma Projects is a privately owned project management and maintenance company and has received certification as a BEE Exempt Micro Enterprise. The company was registered as a close corporation in March 2008. Our highly disciplined management team is actively involved in every aspect of the day-to-day running of the business.

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This post serves to introduce our new offices on the corner of Okavango Road in Brackenfell.  Right in between Cape Gate shopping centre, the Medi Clinic and the new Makro!  Watch out for our signage that will soon make its appearance on the skyline!

Hope to see you there!

Regards

Graeme Scott

This is the easy part.

We work at keeping up a good relationship with all our clients and here we offer the additional service of keeping you accountable.  If we agree on a budget and you stick to it for a previously agreed on period, we will reward you with a discount on your monthly or annual account with us.  If you do not stick to the budget then the discount unfortunately falls away.

This service is free of charge for our monthly business clients and is just one of the value adds that we bring to the table.

Contact us for any further information.

Regards

Graeme Scott

“We have successfully created a culture of taxpaying in this country, but it would not take a lot to destroy it at this stage,” spokesperson Ettiene Retief said.

“Government’s growing reliance on individual taxpayers to fund the fiscus means that it is increasingly dependent on convincing individual taxpayers that their money is being well-managed and sensibly spent.”

He said wasteful and fruitless expenditure was widely covered in the media and this made it difficult for the government to argue it needed to collect more taxes from already overburdened taxpayers.

Gordhan will present his Budget to Parliament on February 22.

Retief said individual taxpayers had been contributing an ever-growing share of South Africa’s tax revenues in the past few years.

“It’s an approach that makes sense as this tax is easy to collect from employers and is fairly resistant to economic cycles, unlike corporate tax which depends on profits.

“The end result is that individual taxpayers now have precious little space to manoeuvre when it comes to structuring their salary packages.”

Retief said tax rates were a highly political act as the money collected was directly channelled into implementing the ruling party’s programmes.

“When a government loses its moral right to levy taxes, individuals can be surprisingly successful at circumventing them,” he said.

He gave as an example Italy, where about a quarter of economic activity takes place outside the tax net.

“[S]uccessful tax and foreign exchange evasion was a hallmark of this country as the apartheid government lost legitimacy,” he said.

In light of this, and given that 2012 would be an important year politically, tax rates would probably not change that much.

“I expect individual tax rates to change only marginally, mostly to bring some relief from ‘bracket creep’ to the lower income earners,” said Retief.

There was little room to raise VAT, as the current rate of 14 percent was just under that of international benchmarks, he said.

“The minister’s hand might be forced if the decline in VAT collections during the current tax year had not been reversed.

“However, VAT is ultimately a tax on consumers so, at the least, any increase should be matched by a revision of the list of exempted items.”

He did not expect the minister to raise corporate taxes.

“During 2012, the secondary tax on companies will be replaced by a tax on dividends, effectively reducing corporate tax rates and so further promoting South Africa as an attractive investment destination and the obvious springboard into Africa.

“Raising corporate tax rates would thus be counterproductive and, would anyway not raise significant extra sums given the state of the economy,” said Retief.

Consider this: when the class of 2012 was applying to college, there was no iPhone.

Until those students were just about at the end of their  junior years, there was no iPad. Both of these nascent devices now define the mobile internet, which is where all the action is.

But 2011 had some pretty remarkable advances that seem to be the start of inexorable things to come, as well as some surprising and sad examples of demise, whose impact will surely be felt for years to come, in ways that are currently near-impossible to predict.

Some may argue that 2011 was the year of the tablet (redux), because of the spritely launch of Amazon’s Fire and Barnes & Noble’s reboot of the Nook colour. I say, it was bound to happen, and that the only really interesting thing is that content companies are giving Apple a bit of competition, and not the hardware bigwigs.

The cloud was big in 2011, but in a way it just seemed to finally achieve escape velocity after Apple created iCloud within its rigorously controlled ecosystem.

Here are five tech events from 2011 that may not seem entirely obvious but which I think will resonate for years.

Siri

There was the usual guessing game when Apple was preparing to announce its successor to the iPhone 4 in the late spring. There was lots of talk about incorporating NFC, an emerging technology for mobile, wireless payments, and 4G. But close to nobody focused on Siri – even though the app had been well covered as a “gee-whiz” item when it launched.

Even when Apple bought the company a few weeks later, reporting focused on the challenge to Google and on search, rather than the prospect of entirely new ways of using a mobile device. Apple itself (as is its wont) did its best to downplay the purchase of a “small company”, even though it knew Siri was going to be the key ingredient of its next iPhone version.

“Apple buys smaller companies from time to time but doesn’t comment on products or plans,” an Apple spokesperson told the New York Times.

But even in its first outing, Siri has proven to be a mature and reliable companion that doesn’t improve on something but creates an entirely new relationship – and from that sort of gene pool, amazing things come.

Computers don’t judge – they don’t think – but by employing semantic interpretation, offering sensible possible answers to ambiguous queries and eliminating the need to train your phone to understand you, Siri has humanised voice communication with an inanimate object in a way which seemed impossible before it happened. Even IBM’s Watson – hardly a consumer device – doesn’t do anything much more or better than Siri, conceptually.

It is staggering to imagine the refinements and extensions that will be coming, and difficult to imagine that voice command won’t become the primary means of engaging mobile devices (and anything they control, which is everything) in very short order.

Which makes the argument about software and hardware keyboards already quaint. Speaking of which…

Black days at BlackBerry

BlackBerry is in what looks very much like a death spiral. It is still a powerful brand, and still has a loyal base, and the enterprise still favours it. It reigned supreme a mere two years ago, but there are too many good alternatives now and its chief asset – reliable push email – has been commoditised.

People like to get their own phones, and company IT departments are getting hip to the idea that BYO is better for them. A multi-day, multinational outage didn’t help Research in Motion’s reputation, and the absurdity of the Playbook tablet’s lack of the Personal Information Management software that is RIM’s raison d’etre only makes BlackBerry seem overripe.

Google+ Facebook = social network wars

While we were all waiting for the inevitable Facebook IPO, Google finally cracked the social network code with Google+. The social network from the search giant remains a work in progress, but the progress has been steady and positive.

Google may be No 2 for a long time (or forever), but for the first time in the short history of social networks there will be competition: the current flavour of the month isn’t going to kill the former one. Google will not walk away from this for at least two intertwined reasons: it needs a way to figure out how to reduce its nearly 100% dependence on ad revenue, and it has tons of that revenue to support Google+ for as long as it likes.

In 2012 I predict we will start to see Google+ buttons on more mobile apps, adding to the de rigeur Facebook and Twitter integration, which is how social services go viral in the mobile space.

Mobile Flash, RIP

Steve Jobs declared a jihad on mobile flash – read Walter Isaacson’s bio to understand his deep antipathy towards Adobe, and get a peek from my report of an Apple Town Hall. And Jobs won.

Reasonable people can differ on whether it made sense to make Flash better for mobile, or whether web designers should have taken the opportunity to end their sloppy addiction. But when Adobe said “No más” it instantly anointed a more open standard called HTML5 (enthusiastically backed by Jobs). This avoids a messy standards war and clearly supports a web language that is already being widely used to great effect in mobile.

The abandonment of mobile Flash could hasten the demise of Flash on the web entirely, as we rapidly make smaller screens and battery-powered devices our weapons of choice.

Steve Jobs, RIP

This one really is easy. Jobs was inventive in ways we will study for generations, but what he wanted to do more than anything was create a company that would continue to do what he did. That would be his enduring legacy.

At Wired we sometimes called Jobs “Willie Wonka”, not only because of his iconoclastic eccentricities but because he seemed to have a magic touch. Like Wonka, Jobs knew he needed an heir since we all knew, in our hearts, that he had been dying for years. I’ve said on many occasions that Apple is fine in the hands Jobs picked and groomed, CEO Tim Cook and designer Jonny Ives, which means Apple is fine for a decade or more.

What then? The death of someone so important to such an ethereal enterprise can’t be calculated, except in retrospect. But make no mistake: because of his untimely death the world changed forever in 2011.

- Reuters

According the Promotion of Access to Information Act, all privately owned businesses (Sole proprietor, Close Corporation, Private Company) must submit a manual to the SAHRC (South African Human Rights Commission) by 31 December 2011 to avoid penalties.  For more information contact us or go to www.sahrc.org.za.  Should you want us to complete and submit it for you the cost will be R520.00.

Regards

Graeme Scott

I would like this opportunity to thank all personal taxpayers for their assistance during the recent tax season!  It was a great experience and we hope to see you all again next year.  Just an urgent message to everyone to please try and plan your filing season, as more than 70% of the taxes we submitted was received in the last two weeks before the deadline.  This means an inordinate amount of pressure on all of us, and at the same time you wait 5 months longer for any refund that you qualify for.  It makes sense to contact us in August and be first!

We at BACH hope all our clients and readers have a wonderful Christmas season and a safe holiday wherever it may be!

Kind regards

Graeme Scott

Please note that this promotion does not include registration for efiling and there will be an additional charge if you are a COMMISSION EARNER.

Contact us to make use of this promotion!

Kind regards

Graeme Scott

A government source citing a policy paper to be released on Friday said earlier that the NHI, which is aimed at giving greater access to healthcare for the country’s poor, will require R125bn in 2012, R214bn by 2020 and R255bn by 2025.

If the NHI is implemented, it will be one of the biggest changes brought in by the ANC since it came to power in 1994.

Gordhan said the government did not want to increase the burden on taxpayers with the introduction of the NHI and the programme will be funded through the public finances, contributions from employers, surcharges and partnerships with the private sector.

“There is money in the systems and there may be extra money required,” Gordhan said.

The government has previously said it was investigating how the NHI would be funded and among the options were surcharges on taxable income and VAT increases. Analysts expect the main source of revenue to come from general taxation.

But Gordhan said: “We don’t want to burden anybody more than they need to under normal taxation.”

“The goal is to try and finance healthcare for everybody,” Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told reporters at a briefing.

Motsoaledi said that proposed system will not be able to mirror South Africa’s advanced private healthcare sector but would give millions of poor people better access to healthcare.

“NHI is not intended to destroy the private healthcare sector. (It) is one meaningful way to reach across the wealth gap. We all need decent healthcare.” he said.

South Africa is spending about 8.5% of gross domestic product on public healthcare, but the standard of service is poor. Giving the majority access to world class private facilities aims to improve quality of health treatment.

Contributors to private healthcare schemes are concerned that the NHI would force them to seek treatment at poorly run and overcrowded state facilities.

The policy will be published in the official government newspaper on Friday, kicking off a three-month consultation process.

Health industry officials said many private healthcare providers were not opposed to the NHI.

“Private healthcare professionals are not opposed to the NHI because it will bring more business to them, but they want to see what the paper sets out,” said Dr Norman Mabasa, president of the South African Medical Association.

“We want to see what government plans to include on the NHI and how it will be implemented. We don’t expect the free system to cover everything that private medical offers.”

FOR many people who have been wronged, getting a lawyer on board doesn’t always appeal. For starters, there is the prospect of paying thousands in fees, contending with legalese and, possibly, getting the lifeblood sucked out of you.

Enter the small claims courts (SCCs), which can handle matters of up to R12 000. No lawyers are allowed in these courts.

There has recently been a sharp increase in the number of SCC summonses – from 34 307 (2009/2010) to 50 472 (2010/2011), while the number of trials grew by 29% in that time.

There are about 224 SCCs nationwide, which deal with 150 000 civil matters every year, says Chester Mpane of the department of justice. (The busiest SCC courts are in Gauteng, followed by the Eastern and Western Cape.)

Of these matters, some 35 000 result in trials; the rest are usually settled before the court date or stall at the inquiry stage.

Bert van Hees, a retired legal journalist who now runs the advisory service smallclaimssa.co.za, says that in his experience most SCC cases concern claims over car accidents, medical mishaps or rental disputes.

Firstly, the claim may not exceed R12 000. If more money is involved, you could decide to lower your claim to R12 000 if you would prefer the SCC to handle it.

The limit was only recently increased from R7 000. Mpane says an assessment will be made during November 2011 to decide whether a further increase is necessary. “It (will) also require extensive consultation with roleplayers such as the attorneys’ profession.”

You can only claim if you do it in your personal capacity and you can’t lay a claim against national, provincial or local  governments, but everyone else is fair game – including companies and parastatals like Eskom.

The SCC may throw out your case, particularly if it is too complex for the SCC. A claimant still wishing to pursue such a claim will have to take it to a regular court. Prevent this by presenting your case in a straightforward manner, with all the supporting documentation and witnesses who know what they’re talking about.

Your case must also be against the right person and, importantly, has to be legally valid. While the SCC clerk may give you advice on whether you have a case, this may not always be valid, says Van Hees. He thinks there has been a deterioration in clerks’ skills in the past 10 years, and advises you to get another opinion if you are unsure.

Mpane acknowledges that the education of clerks is receiving attention, particularly to improve on the screening of cases and the drafting of documents. Recently the department of justice received a donation from the Swiss government for the SCC and part of the money will be used to train clerks and commissioners (the SCC “judges”).

How to proceed

You have to start with a letter of demand (LOD)  which can be copied and pasted from http://www.justice.gov.za/forms/form_scc.htm. The LOD may be sent by registered mail or, preferably, hand delivered to the defendant, and gives the defendant 14 days in which to pay the claim.

To obtain a summons from the SCC offices after the 14 days have expired, you need to produce proof that the defendant has in fact received the LOD.

You need to go to the SCC where the defendant lives or, if the defendant is a business concern, the SCC where the firm or company’s premises are – not the SCC closest to you.

Contact your local magistrate’s court to find out which SCC you have to go to. (Usually the SCC resides in the magistrate’s court – cases are typically heard after 16:00 on work days.)

Get the details to the clerk of the SCC and make an appointment to hand over all relevant documentation, including proof that the person received your claim as well as contact numbers.

The clerk will go through the documents and should assist you in drawing up a summons, as well as determining when the case will be heard.

A summons for the case then has to be served on the opposing party – and again you need to get a receipt.

Usually, people opt to leave this to a sheriff. You can hand the summons, together with the service fees (usually less than R100), to the sheriff in whose district the opposing party lives. The sheriff will provide you with proof that the summons has been delivered.

Now, the opposing party can decide to comply with your claim and pay up. You will have to let the court clerk know as soon as you decide not to proceed with the case.

But that person could also decide to respond to your claim with a statement sent to the clerk of the court. The person could also institute a counterclaim, but would still need to attend the hearing.

How to win

- Keep all documentation – contracts, documents and other evidence for your claim – to present in court.

- Witnesses are key. Without corroboration, it will be only your word against another party.

“Without witnesses (to a collision, perhaps) or a written contract to prove the terms and conditions (such as a lease agreement), or invoices to prove a transaction and so on, a claimant is likely to suffer the inconvenience of an otherwise unnecessary postponement or, worse, the humiliation of the claim being dismissed outright as unproven.

“Be warned, it often happens,” says Van Hees.

He says it is particularly important to bring experts to court, for example motor mechanics, roofing experts, architects, an IT expert or even an independent dentist to prove your claim against your dentist.

But he warns that they have to be in court. “Because the commissioner may need to question your expert, a statement or sworn affidavit by the expert, as a substitute for his actual presence in court, is unacceptable and may seriously jeopardise your claim if the commissioner needs to question the absent expert – after all, the commissioner cannot question statements or affidavits!”

- Prepare your statement. You will be asked to state your case, so rehearse your argument thoroughly beforehand. Keep it short and rational.

- Draw up a list of questions. You are not allowed to grill the other person in court, but you may – with the commissioner’s permission – put a few questions to the defendant. Make notes of any inaccuracies in his answers and bring that to the commissioner’s attention.

Possible outcomes

If the opposing party doesn’t pitch on the court day, the commissioner will decide whether the claim is valid and then, if he agrees, gives a “default judgment” against the opposing party. That person then has 10 working days (after being informed of the judgment) to cough up.

If the person had a very good excuse for not showing up – usually this may not include lack of money, personal commitments or business pressures – as well as a valid defence, he may apply to have the judgment rescinded and a new court date may be determined.

(If you don’t show up on the day, you don’t have to provide an excuse – the case is simply removed from the roll. But if you still wanted to make a claim, you will have to start afresh.)

If both of you showed up and stated your cases, there is no appeal against the commissioner’s ruling, whichever way it goes.

If the commissioner can’t decide which party to believe, he may give an “absolution from the instance” ruling. This means you can try the claim again – but this time make sure you have adequate proof.

If you win the case, the opposing party has 10 workings days to pay the claim, as well as the costs you incurred if you used a sheriff (no other costs will be allowed).

If the person doesn’t pay, one option is to obtain a document known as a writ of execution against moveable property. This is usually available at the small claims offices, says Van Hees.

“As a final gesture of goodwill, the small claims administration will help you complete the document, and you then take it to the sheriff (as with the summons).”

If you have managed to locate the defendant, the writ empowers the sheriff to seize any attachable property belonging to him or her. The sheriff’s fee for this is in the region of R120.

If the sheriff is able to seize sufficient movables to cover your claim plus his own fees, your troubles are over, says Van Hees.

If the defendant has disappeared or owns nothing that can be attached, you can pursue the matter through the magistrate’s court.

But remember, this will involve costly legal expertise and tracing fees – completely out of proportion to your claim and with little prospect of recovering your costs, says Van Hees.

“If you find yourself in this predicament, it may be wise at this stage to abandon your claim, and to write off your loss as one of life’s unfortunate experiences.”

- Fin24