Latest news with #R100
The Citizen
6 hours ago
- General
- The Citizen
Test your IQ with Mensa
THE next test for membership of Mensa, the high IQ society, will be held on Saturday, June 7 at 09:45 near Pinetown. Mensa International is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. Founded in 1946, it is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test: that is, in the top 2% of the population. The test is in multiple-choice format and comprises two sections. The first one tests general reasoning, and the second tests visio-spatial abilities. You may join Mensa by passing either section. The test is conducted by a registered psychologist and takes about two hours. Also read: WATCH Bee therapy creates a buzz in Hillcrest Results are confidential and simply comprise notification of whether you passed Mensa's criteria for membership or not – you will not be given an 'IQ score'. Candidates may leave with their results at the end of the session. Mensa is in effect a social club for people who sometimes enjoy the company of others who think a little quicker or see a slightly bigger picture than the average. The word 'Mensa' is Latin for 'Table' and signifies that they are a round-table organisation, where all members' values are equal. There are branches in all four major centres in South Africa. Meetings vary between social gatherings and ones of a more mentally stimulating nature. Should you write and pass the test, you will be offered membership, which currently costs R680 per year, with discounts for under 18 and over 65. Contact to book your place. It costs R130 (R100 for students and pensioners). Candidates must be 16 years or older. Candidates need to book a place, and pay beforehand, by EFT. They will need to bring their ID on the day, and there is safe parking at the venue. Mensa KZN is active on social media. For more from the Highway Mail, follow us on Facebook , X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok. Click to subscribe to our newsletter here At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Eyewitness News
8 hours ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Treasury rules out further drawdowns from GFECRA to boost revenue
CAPE TOWN - The National Treasury has ruled out any further drawdowns from the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA) to bolster revenue. In last year's budget, the finance minister announced a R100 million withdrawal from the account to pay off some of its debt. The account, held by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), is meant to protect the country against foreign exchange fluctuations. There is currently around R390 billion in the account. Twenty-five million rand will be drawn down in each of the next two financial years. Responding to public comments on the budget on Friday, the head of the Treasury's Asset and Liability Management, Ravesh Rajlal, told Parliament's finance committees it was not an option to take out more money. "There is an agreement that we have with the SA Reserve Bank, and what we need to do is that gets updated on a yearly basis, so I think at the time of the medium-term budget policy statement, we will make further announcements in that regard." Rajlal said it was also not preferable to renegotiate the country's debt because it would send a distress signal to the markets. "So, it's important to highlight that we don't go into a renegotiation of our debt, because that will result in a significant impact on our debt stock. What will happen then, obviously, is the ratings agencies will downgrade us and obviously that will have serious repercussions for our borrowing programme."
TimesLIVE
a day ago
- TimesLIVE
'Fraudster' arrested after allegedly confessing to RDP housing scam
A woman who allegedly scammed a number of people by promising to fast-track their applications for government subsidised housing has been arrested after allegedly walking into the Gauteng department of human settlements office and confessing her crimes. The woman told a senior official at the department's customer support centre earlier this week she had illegally collected more than R100,000 from members of the public, the department said She claimed she could help them 'jump the housing waiting list' and secure Breaking New Ground or RDP houses. The official alerted authorities and the suspect was apprehended in a joint operation by the department and the Ekurhuleni metro police. She is now in police custody and faces charges of fraud. Human settlements MEC Tasneem Motara praised the official who escalated the matter. 'I commend the official who acted responsibly and was not tempted to get involved in corrupt activity herself. We are serious about cracking down on corruption and fraud, especially those who are trying to take advantage of citizens who have a real need to be allocated [housing] as soon as possible.' The department reiterated warnings about housing scams and reminded the public it does not charge for any of its services. It urged residents to remain alert and avoid being duped by individuals who falsely claim to be government officials. 'Please be aware of unscrupulous individuals who pose as officials from the Gauteng department of human settlement — falsely claiming to be MECs or heads of department to deceive and extort money from the public.'
The Citizen
a day ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Residents demand scrapping of bills, reject amnesty plan
Frustrated residents from across Tshwane took to the streets demanding the immediate scrapping of historic arrears in estimated bills and to reject the metro's current conditional amnesty programme. The Lotus Gardens, Atteridgeville, and Saulsville Civic Association (LASCA) led the march on May 29. They described the historic debt as 'bogus'. The residents handed over their memorandum of demands at Tshwane House in the Pretoria CBD. LASCA president Tshepo Mahlangu said the estimated bills are 'unconstitutional', and residents should not be obligated to pay for services that cannot be verified. 'The auditor general's report indicated that these bills are estimated, so they are inaccurate,' Mahlangu said. 'Residents cannot be compelled to pay for a debt that is based on estimations, even in terms of the law, we are not obliged to pay for estimations.' He stated that the metro is struggling with service delivery, which is causing distress across all regions, but customers are facing unjustifiably high and inaccurate bills. 'The metro is so quick to want to collect debts, but when it comes to delivering services, they hold back. 'Residents are faced with poor service delivery but are charged every month for services that are never rendered.' He said that for residents to start paying bills, the estimated debts should be eliminated, and then services delivered so that there is proof of what they are required to pay for. 'The metro should solve the billing problem by employing more meter readers, delivering services appropriately, and then collecting revenue.' The Department of Finance recently announced that the municipality's Debt Relief and Incentive Scheme will conclude on May 31, however, residents demanded that the programme be stopped. 'This scheme is used to trick municipal customers into committing to payment arrangements on arrears,' said Mahlangu. He maintained that the metro should put a stop to the conditional bill amnesty scheme. Residents expressed their frustration regarding the municipality's billing crisis. Joyce Manoko, a 69-year-old resident of Atteridgeville, expressed her confusion about why her water bill was so high. 'It doesn't make sense to me how I have a debt of over R100 000 on my bill when I pay the little I have every month for utilities. I don't even own a car wash.' She said the municipality called her to make an arrangement to pay the debt, but she has no idea how she is going to pay. 'If I agree to that arrangement, how will I pay for it when I don't work and depend on the pensioners' grant only?' Godfrey Shabalala (65) from Soshanguve said he is hurt by how they are being treated by the metro. He stated that they are forced to live in darkness and that their taps run dry due to debts they do not understand. 'We are suffering while people in power are living comfortably and earning profits using our names.' MMC for Finance and Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise received and signed the memorandum of demands, committing to address the issues raised by residents. 'We will call the LASCA delegation and have a meeting with them within the stated 14 days to discuss what should be done, how, and when,' he said. ALSO READ: Primary school needs urgent refurbishment, upgrades Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to bennittb@ or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The Citizen
a day ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Rate cut another boost for rising property market
With the inflation rate still below 3% and the Rand stronger against the US Dollar, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank has decided to lower the repo rate by 0,25% to 7,25%. This is the fourth interest rate cut since September 2024 and will take the prime rate and home loan 'base rate' to 10,75%, compared to 11,75% a year ago, notes Berry Everitt, CEO of the Chas Everitt International property group, and will cut the cost of borrowing by around R17 per R100 000. 'This means that on the R1,6m average home price noted in the May BetterBond Property Brief, the minimum monthly bond repayment will drop by R272, making it easier for prospective buyers to qualify for new home loans. 'And for existing homeowners with 20-year bonds at that level, their monthly repayments will now be almost R1100 lower than at this time last year.' The news for first-time buyers is even better, he says, with the minimum monthly repayment on the average first-time buyer home price of R1,28m dropping by R218 and the gross monthly income required to qualify for a 20-year loan of that amount falling by more than R700. 'In addition, the banks have been easing deposit requirements in recent months and the average deposit for first-time buyers is currently almost 9% lower, at R175 000, than it was at this time last year. Coming on top of the Budget decisions to raise the Transfer Duty threshold to R1,2m and not to raise VAT, this means that first-time buyers now require a lot less cash to become homeowners.' Everitt says this is already being reflected in the market, with BetterBond recording a 2,2% year-on-year increase in home loan applications in April, 'which represents a huge comeback from the 15% year-on-year decline recorded in April 2024'. Today's MPC decision follows news released by StatsSA that the inflation rate in April was 2,8%, still under the Bank's current target range of 3 to 6%, despite large electricity tariff increases and higher food prices in recent months. Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago noted that inflation was also expected to remain lower than initially expected this year largely due to lower oil prices, a stronger Rand/dollar exchange rate and the decision not to raise VAT. On the other hand, economic growth projections are lower and unemployment is higher worldwide, so there is a need to lower rates to stimulate spending, company revenues and employment. Many other central banks have already cut rates in response to this situation, and the US Federal Reserve is also expected to start doing so at its next meeting. Issued by Chas Everitt International
