Learn from me and stick to your budgets, was the clear message from the finance minister in his budget address to media this year, as he introduced the first surplus the government has ever run. The budget balance is expected to show a R5 billion surplus on a budget of R470 billion, just more than 1%.
Tumi is now 35 years old, with only four years of retirement savings in her kitty as she cashed in her retirement fund when changing jobs at the age of 31 to buy a car. Her pension fund is only valued at R67 000. She has recently received a 9% increase in salary as a reward for her hard work. Sophia Swartz, a business development manager from Sanlam Financial Advisors, discusses Tumi’s options
After starting firmer, the JSE drifted weaker during the course of Friday morning’s session, but was just barely hanging on to positive territory just after midday on Friday. By 12.25pm, the all-share index was up 0,03% — or just eight points. The resources index was 0,20% higher and the gold mining index was ahead 0,21%.
South Africa soccer coach Carlos Alberto Parreira expects in-form star striker Benni McCarthy to end his long boycott of the national team after finding his feet in the English Premiership. McCarthy, who has refused to play for Bafana Bafana since 2005, took his tally for new club Blackburn Rovers to 16 when he scored an outstanding winner against Arsenal in the FA Cup in midweek.
Côte d’Ivoire striker Didier Drogba was named the 2006 African Footballer of the Year on Thursday night at an awards ceremony in Accra, Ghana. He edged out Ghana’s Michael Essien of Chelsea and Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o to deny the Barcelona marksman a record fourth successive award.
South Korea on Friday announced it would resume food aid to North Korea and the two sides agreed to restart family reunions, following their first high-level meeting since the North’s nuclear test. The two nations also announced a series of other steps to improve relations chilled by the North’s missile launches last July and an atomic test last October.
Israel expressed concern on Friday about a potential Russian sale of advanced anti-tank weapon systems to Damascus amid persistent fears in the Jewish state about a future conflict with its enemy. The weapons in question are capable of ripping through the most modern armour and penetrating even bunkers, the country’s top-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper warned.
The Auckland Blues extended their lead at the top of the Super 14 standings to five points with a 28-9 win over the Otago Highlanders at Eden Park on Friday. The Blues scored three unanswered tries in the second half to run away with the match after Otago had led 6-3 at the break and held their advantage until the final 20 minutes.
Broadcaster John Perlman finished his stint as SAfm current-affairs talk-show host on Friday after a run-in with his bosses over the blacklisting controversy last year. ”Thanks very much for having me, it has been a fabulous nine years,” was how Perlman ended his last show.
Ten French tourists were kidnapped in the remote desert of northern Ethiopia, a businessman and a tour operator said on Friday. The tourists were in a convoy of four vehicles in Dalol, 800km north-east of Addis Ababa, travelling to salt mines in the Afar region on Thursday, when they were kidnapped.