Cabinet Approves SANRAL Plan for E-Toll Closure and Debt Write-Off
Draft Rates and Monetary Amounts Bill: Treasury Invites Public Comment
Draft South African Police Service Amendment Bill Submitted to Parliament
Parliament Demands Intergovernmental Action Plan on R110bn Municipal Eskom Debt
Parliament Committee Calls for Prioritised Lifestyle Audits for SCM Officials
Draft VAT Amendments Issued for Valuable Metals Reverse Charge
Accounting & Auditing Accounting & Financial Reporting Accounting and Auditing Accounting and Finance Accounting Standards Affirmative action Africa Agriculture and fisheries Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development Asset Forfeiture Auditing Auditing and Accounting Banking Banking and Finance Black Empowerment Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Budget Built Environment Business Business Management CIPC Comment Communications & Digital Technologies Community Schemes Company Law Competition Law Compliance Constitution Constitutional Law Consumer Law Consumer Protection Contingency fees Copyright Corporate & Commercial Corporate Governance Corporate Law Corruption Courts Crime Criminal Law Customs & Excise Debt Disaster Management E-tolls Economic Development Economy Education Electoral Law Energy Energy and Infrastructure Environmental Law Exchange Control Expropriation Family Law FICA Finance Financial and Accounting Financial Intelligence Centre Financial Sector Financial Services Financial Services Regulation Fisheries & Aquaculture Gender Governance and Compliance Government & Legislation Government and Policy Government Procurement & Tender Law Health Health and Safety Home Affairs Housing Human rights Independent Reviews Insolvency Intelligence International Justice Justice and Constitutional Development Labour Labour & Employment Legal Legal & Compliance Legal & Constitution Legal & Litigation Legal & Regulatory Legal & Regulatory Updates Legal and Constitutional Legal and Regulatory Legal News Legal Practice Council Legal Updates Legislation Legislation Updates Legislative News Legislative Updates Local & Provincial Government Local Government Media Media and Communications Minerals & Energy Mining Mining & Minerals National Treasury Negotiating Tax Debt and Payment Arrangements with SARS New Legislation Opportunities for Public Comment Parliament Pension Funds Politics POPIA Practice Management Presidency Press freedom Professional Ethics Property & Real Estate Property Law Property Law (including intellectual property) Public Finance Management Public Finance Management Act Public Participation Public Procurement Public Sector Public Sector Compliance Regulatory Regulatory Compliance Regulatory Compliance and Legislation Regulatory Updates Road Accident Fund Safety and Security Securities Law Securitisation Small Business Development Social Development Social Media Social welfare Speeches and Statements Sport Sport, Arts & Culture State spending Sustainability Reporting Tax Tax & Customs Tax Law Technology Technology & Communications Tourism Trade Trade & Industry Trademarks Training Transparency Transport Unemployment Water & Sanitation Wills, Estates & Trusts 
Higher education minister Blade Nzimande wants to overhaul the Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas) and grab most of the R13 billion collected each year by way of the National Skills Levy. Some are calling this a bold attempt by the minister to nationalise the country's training.
Higher education minister Blade Nzimande has proposed the effective nationalisation of skills training. He also founded a trust that received millions from Sector Education Training Authorities (Setas) that fall under his purview, though he denies any conflict of interest. 
The nanny state is at it again. Now health minister Aaron Motsoaledi wants to ban smoking in public places altogether. The Free Market Foundation calls this an assault on basic freedoms and property rights.
Last year, two days before Xmas, Lennie Katz, the liquidations supremo at Edward Nathan Sonnenberg, served summons on Noseweek and its editor Martin Welz for “wrongful defamation” over stories he had written on the Brakspear v Nedgroup and other cases. Welz and Noseweek are defending the action. Here’s the latest.
It's time to call out the loons who want to scare us all with their stories of man-made climate change being responsible for the current drought. As Andrew Kenny points out in this article, we should welcome increased CO2 levels as beneficial for plant life. 
As US President Barack Obama wages his seventh war against the Muslim world after winning his Nobel Peace Prize, journalist John Pilger reminds us that the outrages committed by ISIS can only be understood by an examination of the history of Western governments and their intelligence agencies in spreading violence and terror.Higher education minister Blade Nzimande has gazetted sweeping proposals to scrap sector education and training authorities that receive R13 billion a year from the skills levies. Expect a major fight-back from the Setas and companies which stand to lose billions in levy refunds.
Eastern Cape ostrich farmer Ash Davenport, who was the first South Africa to present a securitisation audit in front of a court, lost his case in the Eastern Cape High Court to stop his farm being sold in execution. But he has a second audit proving beyond any doubt that Standard Bank no longer owns his loan. 
Acts Online has launched its Business and Legal Intelligence Report, a subscriber service which will be published twice a month, bringing you actionable intelligence that you need to guide your business and your finances. Do not make a decision without first consulting this report. 
Here's how you do it: round up the bankers who sank your country into bankruptcy and lock them away. Ireland is seeking extradition from the US of the former CEO of Anglo Irish Bank for his part in Ireland's 2009 banking crisis. But Iceland is way ahead of the pack, jailing 26 bankers for a total of 74 years.
FNB valued Mike Russwurm's house in Johannesburg at R1,4m just a few years before he fell into arrears. It then went and sold his house at auction for R10,000. Yes, you read that right. That's less than 1% of its original value. Here's what happened.
Jack Darier of Parkhurst in Joburg asked his bank whether his loan had been securitised. No way, said the bank. It was the answer Darier was expecting. Meantime he had the proof that the opposite was true. It was a truth test, and the bank failed.
The already demonised tobacco industry now faces further interference from the nanny state in the form of new regulations requiring plain cigarette packets and a ban on smoking in public places. Whether you smoke or not, this encroachment on freedom of choice and private property is disturbing.
There is brisk debate in this internet age as to whether copyrights stifle the spread of knowledge. Copyright became a legal phenomenon in 1886 when writer Victor Hugo and others helped draft the Berne Convention. It seems the SA government has joined the anti-copyright movement and wants to assume ownership of your creative works on your death.
The main lesson to be learned from the damage caused by SA's stricter visa rules for visitors - now relaxed - is that the government needs to pay closer attention to the unintended consequences of policy decisions.
The visa debacle that drove an estimated 150,000 tourists away so far this year at a reported cost of R2,6 billion to the economy has finally been relaxed. Visitors applying to travel to SA will no longer have to submit biometric information in person at our embassies. 
SA's press is becoming more lapdog than bulldog. The SABC wants 70% "happy, patriotic" news and the government is using its financial clout to muscle in on other areas of the media, as this article from The Economist makes clear.
While some newspapers refuse to publish anything positive about Orania on the grounds that it might offend some, Leon Louw of the Free Market Foundation went there and found it clean, hospitable and tolerant.
Is there a better tax system than the current monstrosity? Stephen Meintjies and Michael Jacobs put forward a bold alternative in their newly published book Our Land Our Rent Our Jobs: look at the high growth economies such as Singapore and Hong Kong and follow their lead by imposing a "resource rental" on land.
The days of debt collectors going "forum shopping" by searching out friendly magistrates courts are coming to an end. A recent decision in the Western Cape High Court made it illegal for debt collectors to obtain garnishee orders outside the province. This will almost certainly be adopted by other provinces. 
A study by Grant Thornton suggests the government's new visa regulations will cost the economy R2,6bn and 5,800 tourism sector jobs this year. Home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba reckons the drop in tourist arrivals to SA is the result of a slowing world economy. In any event, relief is on its way in the form of softer visa requirements.
Etolls are nearing the end of the highway. As predicted, monthly revenue is down to R60 million while bond repayment obligations are R260 million a monthy. This is a situation which cannot survive.
Consumers are being hounded by debt collectors who have bought debts from the banks - a practice which will become virtually impossible under the amended National Credit Act. Consumer Watch advises on how to avoid having to pay debts older than three years - do not admit the debt, and instead raise prescription as a defence.
A recent case in the Cape High Court highlighted some of the more questionable practices going on in the debt industry. Such cases appear to be proliferating, prompting the courts to refer to it as a "fledgling cottage industry" as voluntary liquidations are apparently the new way to go.The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Acts Online. Acts Online accepts no responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or fairness of the article, nor does the information contained herein constitute advice, legal or otherwise.
