Royalty payments are tax deductible under the Income Tax Act, the Supreme Court of Appeal held on Tuesday, upholding an appeal by BP Southern Africa against a judgement of the Cape Town Income-Tax Special Court. The case was about the BP trademarks, colour schemes, designs and symbols that BP Southern Africa has used since 1959.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is considering a tough security plan that could see the country placed under a state of emergency within the coming month, media reports said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has appeared in court, two days after he was arrested, and a protest in Johannesburg has called for his release.
Google on Monday added details of WWF environmental projects to its popular global online mapping service. The Mountain View, California, internet search powerhouse wove WWF images, information and website links into its popular Google Earth program.
A South African business group called on government on Tuesday to adopt new strategies to combat rampant crime and make the police force and Department of Justice and Constitutional Development more efficient. ”The previous solutions weren’t going to achieve results,” Siphiwe Nzimande, CEO of Business against Crime, told a forum.
United States entertainment giant Viacom on Tuesday launched a billion-dollar lawsuit against Google and its affiliate YouTube, accusing the video-sharing website of "massive" copyright infringement. The suit seeks more than $1-billion in damages, as well as an injunction prohibiting Google and YouTube from further infringements.
Stalled peace talks to end a brutal 20-year insurgency by the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army are to resume, government officials said on Tuesday. ”Both parties have agreed to resume talks,” Ruhakana Rugunda, head of the government negotiating team and Minister of Internal Affairs, told journalists.
A Mozambican NGO has managed to collect more than 800Â 000 weapons used in the country’s 16-year civil war, Vista News reported on Tuesday. This was revealed by the head of the Mozambican Christian Council’s Transforming Swords into Ploughshares project, Bishop Dinis Sengulane, in a report published by Radio Mozambique.
South African intelligence agencies are concerned that people involved in international terrorism are spending time in the country, an intelligence official said on Tuesday. Barry Gilder, coordinator of the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee, said that agents are watching certain individuals and organisations who might be involved in international terrorism.
South Africa’s manufacturing output rose by an unadjusted 6,2% in volume terms year-on-year in January, compared with 5% in December, official data showed on Tuesday. Compared with December, manufacturing production in volume terms decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0,5%, Statistics South Africa said.
Poetry is a pleasure which comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, writes Roy Hattersley.