Weekly Mail & Guardian Reporter The total tax burden in the 1994/95 financial year is=20 Total tax revenue will amount to 24,8 percent of gross=20 domestic product (GDP) in 1995/96 — almost the same as=20 the actual 1994/95 figure. Direct taxes remain the most important contributor to=20 total tax revenue in 1995/96 at 52,6 percent […]

Jan Taljaard NO ma’am, you’re most definitely not welcome. If there is one group that will not be curtseying along in the expected upsurge of post-colonial fawning that will accompany Queen Elizabeth’s visit, it will be the far- Addressing a public meeting in Pretoria on Thursday night on the theme: “British Queen, keep out!” the […]

Estimated expenditure for the Office of the President,=20 which includes President Nelson Mandela’s salary,=20 amounts to R16,3-million, an increase of R272 000 from=20 last year, according to the 1995/96 Budget. This is a miniscule 1,7 percent increase over last=20 year’s Budget’s expenditure. Expenditure for the office of Deputy President Thabo=20 Mbeki is estimated at R8,8-million, […]

The Department of Defence has been allocated R9,8- billion, which is a 11,7 percent decrease (or a cut of=20 R1,3-billion) from last year’s R11,1-billion. However,=20 the South African Police Service was allocated R8,9- billion in the 1995/96 Budget.=20 The reduction in defence will finance increased=20 spending on social services, said Chris Liebenberg=20 during his Budget […]

The scrapping of non-resident shareholders’ tax is a=20 strong move to attract foreign investment, reports=20 Jacques Magliolo The scrapping of non-resident shareholders’ tax (NRST)=20 and remaining import surcharges has elicited a positive=20 response from the market during this week’s Budget=20 Experts perceived it as one of the most positive=20 Budgets in decades as it aimed […]

With a dose of South African wit and a whipping by the=20 British team, the local brand of rugby league kicked=20 off last week RUGBY LEAGUE: Luke Alfred THE recent test between the Rhinos (the South African=20 amateur Rugby League side) and their amateur=20 counterparts from Britain was the ideal laboratory to=20 test the following […]

THEATRE: Guy Willoughby OUT of the slough of despond once called Capab Drama=20 comes a dull, draughty production of Alan Bennett’s=20 superb historical play, The Madness of George III. This=20 rendition offers scant help to the local cause of=20 ”Eurocentric” culture, confirming rather that we don’t=20 have the resources to mount this kind of work […]

The Markets Jacques Magliolo Two financial events took place over a period of a mere=20 five days this week which astounded — nay=20 flabbergasted — pessimistic, bearish me! While I may=20 be forgiven for incorrectly thinking the Budget would=20 be harsh, the scrapping of the financial rand was=20 totally unbelievable. Pre-Budget forecasts for both the […]

Movable Feast EVERY once in a while you feel the urge to pump up=20 those iodine levels and taste the flavour of the deep=20 blue sea as immediately as biting into a salt-water=20 oyster. When this happens, listen to your body. You=20 need sushi — that wonderful art form of the Japanese=20 chef, which takes […]

Eddie Koch WATER Affairs Minister Kader Asmal this week instructed his officials to investigate pollution charges against the controversial Thor Chemicals factory in the kwaZulu/Natal Midlands. The minister’s move follows a personal inspection of the factory where at least two workers have died of mercury poisoning and scores of others have been exposed to dangerous […]