Lew Geffen, chairman of Sotheby’s International Realty in SA, says: “Today’s Budget holds out excellent prospects for the speedy improvement of the real estate market and the sustainability of that recovery.

“The most important macro aspects include Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s strong stance, re-iterated throughout his speech, against corruption and financial mismanagement which, together with the fact that he has managed to contain the expected Budget deficit this year to 4,4%, will undoubtedly boost the investor confidence that is the lifeblood of the economy – and of the property sector.

“Also critically important are the R845bn allocation to various new infrastructure projects and the increased spending on existing public works, community works, and rural development programmes, as these are set not only to create thousands of new jobs – and new home buyers – but to raise the management capacity of SA.” Of more immediate benefit, he says, will be the new housing subsidy scheme to be implemented through the provincial administations,
which will see those who earn between R3500 and R15 000 a month able to access subsidies of up to R85 000. “This will give the lower end of the market much needed impetus and no doubt have a positive knock-on effect.”

Rudi Botha, CEO of SA’s largest bond originator BetterBond, says: “We could hardly have wished for a better Budget, not only to further stimulate housing demand, but also to increase the ability of home seekers to qualify for housing
finance.

“By allocating billions of rands to new infrastructure projects as well as R6,2bn specifically to job creation projects and incentives, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has demonstrated the government’s absolute determination to

increase employment, which will not only broad the tax base and improve the country’s overall economic prospects, but significantly raise the number of people able to contemplate home ownership in the next few years.

“This should also bring about a revival in the residential construction industry, which itself has the capacity to be a major employer, and thereby create a virtuous circle.” At the same time, he says, Mr Gordhan has managed to find R9,5bn worth of immediate relief for individual taxpayers and significantly reduce the tax and administrative burden on small / micro businesses to help offset the increased costs they will incur from the increased fuel levy and higher electricity tariffs this year.

“Most importantly, though, the Minister indicated today that government is now preparing to play an active role in getting individuals to save more. For most prospective buyers, the biggest limiting factor in gaining access to mortgage funding at the moment is the lack of a deposit. This relates directly to SA’s poor savings culture, but this could change radically if the government goes ahead with plans to push for the introduction of new tax-free savings and investment products, and to directly incentivise taxpayer savings.

“Meanwhile, the confirmation of the new “gap market” housing subsidy will be a great relief to those who have for too long earned too much to qualify for RDP housing and too little to qualify for home loans. Our only disappointment was the lack of any detail in the Budget about the proposed national mortgage insurance scheme.”

Source: GhostDiget

Lew Geffen, chairman of Sotheby’s International Realty in SA, says: “Today’s Budget holds out excellent prospects for the speedy improvement of the real estate market and the sustainability of that recovery.

“The most important macro aspects include Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s strong stance, re-iterated throughout his speech, against corruption and financial mismanagement which, together with the fact that he has managed to contain the expected Budget deficit this year to 4,4%, will undoubtedly boost the investor confidence that is the lifeblood of the economy – and of the property sector.

“Also critically important are the R845bn allocation to various new infrastructure projects and the increased spending on existing public works, community works, and rural development programmes, as these are set not only to create thousands of new jobs – and new home buyers – but to raise the management capacity of SA.” Of more immediate benefit, he says, will be the new housing subsidy scheme to be implemented through the provincial administrations, which will see those who earn between R3500 and R15 000 a month able to access subsidies of up to R85 000. “This will give the lower end of the market much needed impetus and no doubt have a positive knock-on effect.”

Rudi Botha, CEO of SA’s largest bond originator BetterBond, says: “We could hardly have wished for a better Budget, not only to further stimulate housing demand, but also to increase the ability of home seekers to qualify for housing finance.

“By allocating billions of rands to new infrastructure projects as well as R6,2bn specifically to job creation projects and incentives, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has demonstrated the government’s absolute determination to increase employment, which will not only broad the tax base and improve the country’s overall economic prospects, but significantly raise the number of people able to contemplate home ownership in the next few years.

“This should also bring about a revival in the residential construction industry, which itself has the capacity to be a major employer, and thereby create a virtuous circle.” At the same time, he says, Mr Gordhan has managed to find R9,5bn worth of immediate relief for individual taxpayers and significantly reduce the tax and administrative burden on small / micro businesses to help offset the increased costs they will incur from the increased fuel levy and higher electricity tariffs this year.

“Most importantly, though, the Minister indicated today that government is now preparing to play an active role in getting individuals to save more. For most prospective buyers, the biggest limiting factor in gaining access to mortgage funding at the moment is the lack of a deposit. This relates directly to SA’s poor savings culture, but this could change radically if the government goes ahead with plans to push for the introduction of new tax-free savings and investment products, and to directly incentivise taxpayer savings.

“Meanwhile, the confirmation of the new “gap market” housing subsidy will be a great relief to those who have for too long earned too much to qualify for RDP housing and too little to qualify for home loans. Our only disappointment was the lack of any detail in the Budget about the proposed national mortgage insurance scheme.”

Source: GhostDigest

The inauguration of the new wing of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) building in Bloemfontein took place on 11 November when Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi, handed over the new wing to Justice Minister Jeff Radebe.

Minister Radebe said that the SCA building was established in 1929 when the then Appellate Division commenced its work there. He added that the new wing was built to match the exact design of the existing building and using the same material, which had to be imported from the United States and Australia as it was not available in South Africa. He added that ‘the sandstone and granite that were used were mined in quarries in the Free State and Mpumalanga and other material had to be transported from all over South Africa’.

The expansion of the SCA, which cost R101 million, started in March 2006. The initial contract completion date was September 2009, but this was extended to August 2011 due to the complexity of the project. Occupation of the building took place on 1 November.

Minister Radebe said that the new building consists of –

• one court room;
• two boardrooms;
• thirteen judges’ chambers;
• two advocate robbing rooms;
• one judges’ reading room;
• eleven judges’ secretaries’ offices;
• two photocopying rooms;
• two lifts, including one for disabled people;
• thirty one basement parking bays, including two bays for disabled judges;
• disability toilet facilities; and
• an entrance with tight security.

The court also celebrated its 101st anniversary on the same day. Minister Radebe said that the opening of the new wing was a demonstration of the Justice Department’s commitment towards providing adequate and improved infrastructure in order to create an enabling environment for the judiciary to dispense justice more efficiently. He added: ‘Indeed it was correct that we decided to enlarge the premises of this court, as that augurs well for the increased capacity required to address access to justice by all our people. The rising volume of cases is such that each judge has to peruse over 30 000 pages in documents of appeal cases per year. This is by no means a small feat and demonstrates that we must always appropriately and proactively project the increasing workload so that the physical and personnel power necessary for the administration of justice is at all times on par with the rising demands.’

Minister Radebe added that the library in the SCA housed 43 000 volumes, of which about 4 000 titles were ‘old authorities’. ‘These old authorities are from the writings of the Dutch and continental jurists of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries and we must be proud of such a repository. Various works from different sources of law over different centuries and epochs enrich these library facilities so that our judges have at their disposal a repository of nowledge on par with any such library across the world,’ he said.

President of the SCA, Lex Mpati, told De Rebus that when the old building was built, only six judges occupied the court. He said that in 1955 the number grew to 11, which later grew to 16 when he joined the court in 1999 as an acting judge. Judge Mpati explained that with the years and as the population of the country grew so did the work of the court and hence more judges had to be appointed. He said that there were currently 24 judicial positions at the SCA, including the President and the Deputy President, and that the court building had space to accommodate only 11 judges.

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said that the new wing was critical to the delivery of justice, adding that it marked the beginning of a ‘fruitful wheel of justice’ for the SCA. He said that the appearance of the building told of the hard work and time put into the new wing.

Justice Mogoeng concluded his speech by saying that the new wing of the court added a new focus to the SCA and that ‘there was something about being the first occupants of a building, knowing that you are going to be the first in the history books’.

Source: De Rebus

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!