Latest news with #R1
The Citizen
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
Boxing SA under scrutiny as retired boxers demand missing millions
Aggrieved former South Africa junior flyweight champion Dexter Dlamini slammed Boxing South Africa (BSA) for failing to pay retired boxers their share of the Boxing Benevolent Fund. This comes after Sports, Arts, and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie disclosed in February that the fund had been looted and millions were missing. Dlamini, from Klippoortjie, said he and many other former boxers have been unable to access the funds, despite being eligible. ALSO READ: Dowerglen High's Luyanda Lesia wins big at boxing tournament 'We, as former boxers, are aggrieved because the money we contributed to the benevolent fund has disappeared,' said Dlamini. 'McKenzie is trying to find out where the money went. We contributed portions of our fight purses to the fund but never benefited from it. Around R11 million was siphoned from BSA.' The fund, established over 40 years ago for professional boxers in South Africa, was designed to support retired pugilists and those facing hardship or injuries. A portion of each boxer's earnings was deducted to contribute to the fund. However, it has been a subject of investigation due to its depletion, allegedly caused by financial mismanagement. McKenzie has ordered an investigation to determine what happened to the funds and vowed to pursue legal action against those responsible. His department has pledged to restore the fund and has donated R1 million toward its revival. ALSO READ: Bare-knuckle boxing comes to Bedfordview on April 5 Though Dlamini is confident the money will be recovered, he slammed the fund's administrators for lacking empathy. 'That money is supposed to go to retired boxers. We deserve our share. BSA should contact all the boxers who contributed, they know who we are and have our details. I saw on social media that Elijah 'Tap Tap' Makhathini received his portion. I want mine too,' he said. Career Dlamini was part of the golden era of boxing in SA from the 1970s to early 2000s, which saw several boxers win world titles and achieve international recognition. The pugilist competed in 24 professional bouts, winning seven — including one by knockout — losing 12 (seven by knockout), and drawing five. He made his debut in April 1976, defeating Shadrack Mogapudi at Uncle Tom's Hall in Soweto. ALSO READ: International boxing legend wows fans at Emperors Dlamini captured his only title in 1978 when he outpointed Elliot Zondi to claim the newly created South African flyweight belt. He retired in 1983. Decline Dlamini was part of the golden era of boxing in South Africa, spanning from the 1970s to the early 2000s — a period that saw several local fighters win world titles and gain international recognition. 'It's a pity our boxing is suffering. We no longer produce good boxers. Ekurhuleni used to have champion boxers in the past. We had the likes of Gerrie Coetzee. 'But now the standard has gone down because administrators aren't giving us a chance to unearth talent. 'Our young people are on drugs because of a lack of variety of sporting opportunities. Give us the know-how, and you will see a revival of the sport,' Dlamini said. We contacted BSA and are awaiting a response. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
DeepSeek's R1 Upgrade Nears Top-Tier LLMs
DeepSeek today rolled out DeepSeek-R1-0528, an upgraded version of its R1 large language model that it says now rivals OpenAI's O3 and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Gemini 2.5 Pro. The China-based AI firm credited enhanced post-training algorithmic optimizations and a beefed-up compute pipeline for boosting reasoning accuracy from 70% to 87.5% on complex logic tasks, while cutting hallucination rates and improving vibe coding performance. DeepSeek highlighted benchmark wins in mathematics, programming and general inference, positioning R1-0528 as a peer to leading Western models. This release follows DeepSeek's recent open-source launch of Prover-V2, a specialist reasoning engine, and comes amid a flurry of Chinese AI advancementsAlibaba's (NYSE:BABA) Qwen 3 and Baidu's (NASDAQ:BIDU) Ernie 4.5/X1, both touting hybrid reasoning firepower. DeepSeek argues that its combination of open-development ethos and performance parity gives it a unique edge in global AI research. Investors and partners should care because DeepSeek-R1-0528's near-par with top-tier LLMs could accelerate enterprise deployments in Asia and beyond, drive cloud-compute demand, and intensify competition in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. As Western and Chinese models vie for supremacy, benchmarks like these will shape strategic bets on talent, infrastructure and cross-border AI collaborations. With R1-0528 available now on Hugging Face, markets will watch for adoption by startups and research labs, potential licensing deals, and further advances in DeepSeek's open-source roadmap. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
IOL News
10 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- IOL News
Louis-Harvey loves his food and visits to market
Our plucky winner this month is 8-year-old Louis-Harvey, a miniature Yorkie from Reservoir Hills. Image: Supplied Meet the winner and finalists in the Independent on Saturday's March Pet of the Month competition. This month it's Louis-Harvey, an 8-year-old miniature Yorkshire terrier who scoops the prize. While small in stature, Louis-Harvey displays a big personality. He is a foodie and loves being outdoors. His mother says: 'He is a healthy eater and loves his strawberries, blueberries and apples. He enjoys his squeaky toys, and he loves going to the flea markets and any outdoor space, especially his walks by the ocean. 'He has his own little closet and has lots of lovely clothing which he wears according to seasons.' Louis-Harvey wins an exciting new prize open to all pet winners this year – an exclusive photoshoot from pet photographer Tilanie Grote worth R1 500. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ How to enter: Snap a photo of your pet showing its unique personality, with a sentence telling us why he or she is so special to you. Add your name, your pet's name, breed, age and area. Email it to Prize: Winners will receive a photoshoot from pet photographer Tilanie Grote worth worth R1 500. Competition rules: The competition is open to all pets and only one picture may be submitted. Employees of Independent Media, the sponsor, their advertising agencies and their immediate families may not enter. The editor's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Our next Pet of the Month feature will be published on June 28. Entries close on June 22 at midday. The competition will run until February 2026. An independent panel of judges will select the Pet of the Month. Because of space constraints, not all pictures will be published in the newspaper. However, every pet will be considered and all entries will be published on our Facebook page Duke, a five-year-old Labrador from Glenwood, guards his stick Image: Supplied Bodhi, a one-year-old Yorkie is sitting pretty on Durban's Berea. Image: Supplied Lukha, an 11-month-old, Jack Russell from Chatsworth plays with his giant ball. Image: Supplied Simba, a one-year-old golden retriever says hello over the fence from Midrand. Image: Supplied Romeo Gulzar, a six-year-old Pomeranian from Clare Estate, leaves mom a message. Image: Supplied Snoopy, a 5-year-old German shepherd from Chatsworth is on a secret assignment. Image: Supplied Ten-month-old Nunubaja from KwaDukuza shows his true English bulldog determination Image: Supplied The grand dame from Kloof, 14-year-old Staffie Haley takes a nap with her toys. Image: supplied Birthday boy Hail, a rednose pitbull from Queensburgh, turns one. Image: Supplied Charlie, the young Jack Russell from Shallcross, gets up to mischief. Image: Supplied
Shafaq News
12 hours ago
- Business
- Shafaq News
DeepSeek unveils upgraded giant-challenging R1 model
Shafaq News/ Chinese AI firm DeepSeek has released an upgraded version of its flagship R1 reasoning model, intensifying competition with US leaders OpenAI and Google. The updated model, R1-0528, significantly enhances performance in complex inference tasks, narrowing the gap with OpenAI's o3 series and Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro, according to a post on the developer platform Hugging Face. While described as a 'minor' version upgrade, R1-0528 introduces substantial improvements in mathematical reasoning, programming, and logical deduction. DeepSeek also reported a 50% reduction in hallucinations—AI-generated false or misleading output—in tasks such as rewriting and summarization. In a WeChat post, the Hangzhou-based firm said the model now excels at generating front-end code, roleplaying, and producing creative writing including essays and novels. 'The model has demonstrated outstanding performance across various benchmark evaluations.' Originally launched in January, R1 quickly went viral, challenging assumptions that advanced AI development requires vast computing infrastructure. Its success triggered responses from Chinese tech giants such as Alibaba and Tencent, both of which released competing models claiming superior performance. DeepSeek also disclosed that it applied a distillation technique—transferring the reasoning methodology from R1-0528—to enhance Alibaba's Qwen 3 8B Base model, boosting its performance by more than 10%. 'We believe the chain-of-thought from DeepSeek-R1-0528 will hold significant importance for both academic research and industrial development focused on small-scale models,' the company added.
The Citizen
13 hours ago
- Business
- The Citizen
‘We have a National Treasury problem': Fuel levy hike defended amid criticism over tax strategy
At least R3.5 billion in revenue would be lost by not increasing the fuel levy, according to National Treasury. Petrol pumps are pictured at a filling station in Melville on 20 January 2021. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark The National Treasury has defended its decision to increase the general fuel levy in the budget 3.0 amid criticism over its broader tax policy. On Friday, officials from the Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (Sars) appeared before Parliament in a joint meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Select Committee on Finance. They were responding to public submissions on the fiscal framework and revenue proposals, which outline South Africa's economic policies, revenue projections, and government expenditure limits. This follows the tabling of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's third national budget for the 2025/2026 financial year, after months of political impasse. The budget includes a fuel levy increase of 16 cents per litre for petrol and 15 cents for diesel, effective from 4 June. However, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are challenging the hike in court. National Treasury's revenue projections Treasury's head of tax and financial sector policy, Christopher Axelson, addressed the committee on the revised revenue outlook. Axelson noted that revenue projections had decreased by R61.9 billion compared to the budget tabled in March. This decline was driven in part by the withdrawal of proposed increases to value-added tax (VAT) and adjustments to zero-rated items. 'That increase was reduced slightly, but it still required a large amount of additional revenue to make sure we have a fiscally sustainable trajectory for our debt and debt-service costs, and because of that, this May 2025 budget does include R18 billion in additional revenue for 2025/2026 and has R1 billion in tax relief in 2026/2027,' the Treasury official said. He also indicated that a further R20 billion in unspecified tax policy adjustments is anticipated for the 2026 budget. To fund expenditure priorities, Treasury has opted for a range of tax measures, including no changes to personal income tax brackets or rebates, an inflationary increase in the fuel levy, and above-inflation hikes in excise duties on alcohol and tobacco. Diesel refund relief for primary sectors was also announced. ALSO READ: Budget 3.0: Fuel levy replaced VAT hike but is it the better option? Axelson pointed out that past personal income tax increases had failed to raise the intended revenue, while corporate income tax remains 'highly volatile'. 'Corporate income tax increases are the most damaging to growth, and if you reduce growth, it reduces the tax bases as well, so it is not as effective.' Axelson pointed out that a VAT increase was the most efficient revenue-raising option but had to be scrapped due to opposition. As a result, a bulk of the revenue shortfall was addressed by not adjusting personal income tax and rebates for inflation. He also explained that Treasury has aimed to avoid increasing taxes over the last five years in an effort to support economic recovery, adding that the country's tax system was 'progressive'. National Treasury defends fuel levy hike Moreover, Axelson responded to comparisons between the fuel levy hike and a VAT increase. 'The quantum is very different. The VAT increase over three years would have raised about R75 billion. Increasing the fuel levy by inflation is closer to around R12 billion.' He defended the levy hike, arguing that it had not been raised in the previous three budgets. 'Part of that was due to the very high oil, petrol and diesel prices [but] those have been coming down lately. The recent non-adjustment in the March budget was to provide relief for VAT.' READ MORE: VAT reversal overshadowed by fuel levy hike Axelson emphasised that the fuel levy is a significant source of state revenue, contributing about 5% to total tax revenue. 'This is a specific tax, a cents per litre, so these kinds of specific taxes, which are the same as excise duties, they need to be adjusted by inflation; otherwise, the real value of that tax will go down over time.' He warned that Treasury would lose about R3.5 billion in revenue by failing to increase the fuel levy. 'The vast majority of the tax revenue increase is all on the personal income tax side. Around R16.7 billion of the R18 billion in increases is all on personal income tax.' Watch the meeting below: Axelson told the committee that various alternative revenue proposals – such as eliminating the employment tax incentive (ETI), increasing corporate income tax, introducing a wealth tax, and partially adjusting tax brackets – will be considered in the 2026 budget. 'A lot of them are very good and interesting proposals which we are going to have to consider very carefully and hopefully have a more consultative process before the next budget.' He added that although the finance minister has the authority under the Customs and Excise Act to implement an interim fuel levy adjustment via a notice in the government gazette, Parliament has the right to intervene. 'We do hope the notice will be published quite soon [but] Parliament may decide to intervene [as] there is legislative oversight.' Tax policy criticised Civil society and political parties reacted strongly to the Treasury's presentation. The Budget Justice Coalition, one of the organisations that made submissions, rejected claims of a progressive tax system. 'Our tax system can look progressive on paper, but it doesn't actually work that way, and we know that all too well in a country that is marked by some of the highest levels of inequality,' the organisation's chairperson, Matshidiso Lencoasa, said. She argued that South Africa's tax policy burdens the poor, while wealthy individuals and corporations continue to exploit loopholes to their advantage. READ MORE: Fuel levy pain: Brace for possibility of petrol price hike in June Lencoasa further criticised the proposed VAT and fuel levy increases, describing them as 'blunt instruments' that would place a heavier financial strain on the country's most vulnerable populations. Pieter Faber, senior executive of taxation at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica), also expressed concern. Faber said the institution cannot support further tax increases in an already high-tax environment, especially amid rising national debt and ongoing concerns about the lack of government accountability, as highlighted in the Auditor-General's report on local government this week. Fuel levy increase under scrutiny MK Party MP Des Van Rooyen criticised the delayed implementation of alternative proposals. 'My expectation was that most of the inputs would be accommodated in this budgeting cycle,' Van Rooyen said. He asserted that the fuel levy increase was more regressive than the scrapped VAT hike. 'There should be a thunderous response against this proposal.' Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Pieter Britz called for a fairer distribution of the tax burden. READ MORE: EFF files urgent interdict to stop proposed fuel levy hike EFF MP Omphile Maotwe strongly disagreed with Treasury's position on the fuel levy. 'National Treasury refuses to increase corporate income tax for ideological reasons and not practical ones. They oppose a wealth tax because their underlying assumption is that the state must serve those who already have wealth.' She also challenged the narrative of a progressive tax system. 'The claim that our tax system is progressive cannot be taken seriously,' Maotwe said, accusing the department of ignoring alternative proposals. 'It is clear that we have a National Treasury problem,' she added.
