Latest news with #R464
The Citizen
6 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Mbombela business owner convicted of fraud
A 38-year-old woman has been sentenced to 36 months' imprisonment for fraud by the Mpumalanga Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Mbombela on Tuesday, July 15. Philisiwe Miriam Pretty Lephoko, the sole director of Premax Trading 43 CC, was convicted under Section 276(1)(i) of the Criminal Procedure Act. Her company was also fined R100 000, a fine wholly suspended for five years on condition that she is not convicted of fraud or theft during this period. According to the National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) provincial spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa, Lephoko submitted fraudulent Pay-As-You-Earn returns to the South African Revenue Service (Sars) in February 2019, resulting in an undue payment of R464 550.28 into the company's account. The fraud was uncovered during a Sars audit, leading to her arrest in 2023. ALSO READ: Secunda Regional Court sentences rapist to life for raping 8-year-old girl Nyuswa said Lephoko pleaded not guilty and claimed to be a victim of cybercrime. However, the court rejected this version. Advocates Ntwanano Singwane and Kutullo Nyakane presented oral and documentary evidence from Sars and the bank, detailing how Lephoko transferred R200 000 from the Premax account into her personal account. 'The court found the State's witnesses credible and reliable, and dismissed the accused's explanation as a theoretical defence with no substance,' said Nyuswa. ALSO READ: Two guests injured in road accident in Kruger National Park In sentencing, the court noted Lephoko showed no remorse and continued to shift blame despite overwhelming evidence. It also emphasised the prevalence of tax-related fraud and the need for a strong deterrent.
The Citizen
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
30% electricity tariff increase is a reality, says Erasa
New tariff structure threatens resellers' business model. Resellers play an important role in the electricity value chain, especially in sectional title schemes – and households using less electricity are now being hit the hardest. Picture: Supplied The Electricity Resellers Association of South Africa (Erasa) will this week decide on a strategy to address members' concerns about a looming 30% increase in electricity tariffs for most of the end-users they serve in Eskom distribution areas, according to chair Johan Hopley. These are households that rent or own sectional title units and use on average 400kWh of electricity per month. They are generally already financially struggling, and such a sharp increase in electricity costs will drastically increase the risk of non-payment. A change in Eskom's tariff structure poses a further threat to the resellers' business model as it limits their ability to recover a loss on higher winter tariffs during the summer months, says Hopley. Electricity resellers play an important role in the electricity value chain, especially in sectional title schemes. In most cases, Eskom or the municipal distributor brings the electricity to one bulk connection point at the gate, so to speak, of the premises. The internal distribution is then done by the developer and managed in the long run with the assistance of a reseller. The reseller buys from Eskom or the municipality at a bulk rate but is legally not allowed to sell it to end users at more than the approved retail tariffs of the local electricity distributor, be it Eskom or the municipality. ALSO READ: Johannesburg's 2025/26 tariff increases — Here is how much more you could pay Impact already being felt According to Hopley, the first Eskom bills based on the new tariffs that were implemented on 1 April show an increase of 30% in buildings' bulk purchase cost. A building in the East of Pretoria, for example, paid R357 921 (excluding Vat) to Eskom in May last year. Based on the same number of units in May this year, the bill runs to R464 081 – a 30% increase. Resellers must pass this on to end users who are expecting an increase of no more than the 12.74% that energy regulator Nersa approved for Eskom from 1 April. That widely quoted number is, however, an average and does not reflect the much higher increases for those using less electricity every month. ALSO READ: Nersa approves 12.7% electricity tariff hike for Eskom A tenant or unit owner who used 400kWh in May last year and paid R1 177, will now have to pay R1 547 – an increase of 31%. This may be a huge shock to smaller households that are already struggling to make ends meet, says Hopley, and may result in lower payment rates – which poses a huge risk for resellers. If they use more electricity, the increase moderates. However, at 600kWh per month it is 28%, which is still pretty steep. Even if they try to use less electricity, the impact will be limited due to Eskom's structural changes as the fixed monthly charges have increased from R195 to R367 per household. The corresponding decrease in the price per kWh is small – from R2.95 to R2.45 (17%). ALSO READ: Electricity tariffs: Ramokgopa reveals how much Eskom customers pay for usage per month Seasonal hurdle for resellers Hopley says the added complication is that Eskom's bulk tariffs are seasonal. This means the reseller pays much more for electricity when winter tariffs apply – in June, July and August – than in the rest of the year. The retail tariffs they must charge end users are however the same throughout the year. Resellers, therefore, used to sell at a loss during the winter months but were able to make up for it during the nine summer months. With the new tariffs, the loss in winter will be much bigger and in summer, the reseller may only break even, which is not at all sustainable. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
TimesLIVE
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Five of Elon Musk's late and unfulfilled Tesla promises
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a long history of making ambitious promises and often delivering late. Many of his biggest ideas continue to be in the works. Musk has described himself as pathologically optimistic, saying he does deliver in the end, "which is the important thing". Here are some of Musk's promises that were completed late, and others that are pending: Full self-driving technology Musk's most famous unfulfilled promise is Tesla's effort to create self-driving software. He initially spoke about full self-driving (FSD) capabilities in 2015, saying autonomous cars would be available within three years. He missed that deadline and has promised almost every year since 2020 that Tesla's vehicles would achieve full self-driving capabilities. In 2023, Musk called himself the "boy who cried FSD", an admission of his missed targets. Tesla has said it would release an "unsupervised" version of FSD, which presumably would not require human oversight, in California this year, without offering more information. Affordable model delayed Musk first announced plans for a mass market, roughly $25,000 (R464,000) car in 2020 but offered no specifics about the vehicle at the time. Reuters exclusively reported last year that Tesla scrapped its plans for the low cost car sometimes described as the Model 2. Tesla subsequently said it would create affordable cars that would be built on product lines, rather than the new vehicle previously envisioned. Musk said in April 2024 Tesla would introduce the "new models" by early 2025. The company has said the more affordable models would start production in the first half of 2025, though Reuters reported exclusively last week that plans for an affordable Tesla, which include a stripped-down version of its best-selling Model Y SUV made in the US, would be delayed by months. Cybercab rollout Musk said in 2019 he was "very confident" Tesla would have operational robotaxis by 2020. In October 2024, he announced plans for a self-driving robotaxi, called a Cybercab, to go into production from 2026. Cybercab production could be disrupted, Reuters reported, because Tesla has paused component imports from China after tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump jumped to 145%. Cybertruck Musk introduced its Cybertruck pickup truck in 2019 and planned to start manufacturing around late 2021. Production started in 2023. Next generation Roadster sports car The company in late 2017 announced a new version of its Roadster would launch in 2020. In 2021, Musk pushed the launch of the Roadster to 2023, citing global supply chain bottlenecks. In 2023, he said Tesla hopes to start production of its long-delayed Roadster the next year. Musk announced last year Tesla would aim to ship its long-delayed next generation Roadster in 2025.
