Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan has said that the
fiscus can't sustain the uncertainties around e-tolls. Well, a great many motorists and companies are also uncertain of what impact e-tolling is going to have on their monthly costs. After much to-ing and fro-ing, the monthly bill was capped at R550 per month for light vehicles, but in this report, Gordhan is reported as saying "statistics derived from the gantries on the highway showed that people would not be paying more‚ on average‚ than R150 or R100 a month. He said inflated numbers were being put out to the public." Clear as mud?
These tolls are going to impact on every one of us, everywhere in the country, because every company based in Gauteng, having operations in or through Gauteng or dealing with any such company, will face increased costs. And guess who will have to pay...
On the mobile front, Lax Faure discusses
the technology tsunami... No other development in the history of the world has caused so much change, in such a short time period, he writes.
Food-crop improvement by conventional plant breeding, without resorting to GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) technology, is the goal of the African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) and its work has borne fruit and
African farmers can now select seeds for their needs.
Thinking of travelling to the US? Think again...
Travel chaos is looming as the US cancels flights thanks to Cyclone Sandy. Air France, British Airways, Virgin and other European airlines cancelled all flights into New York, Baltimore, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia on Monday, while US airlines called off thousands of domestic flights and diverted planes away from Sandy's path. There is likely to be a knock-on effect, so check with your travel agent or airline if you're due to travel to the US.
Rod Baker, content director
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Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) is inviting arts organisations in need of board members to apply to be part of the upcoming BASA Boardbank event. Taking place on 31 October at Gallery Momo in Johannesburg, the event once again brings skilled professionals and pre-selected arts organisations together in a relaxed and dynamic fashion. 
The SABC won seven PROMAX Muse and BDA Isis Awards at the annual PROMAX/BDA conference held on 26 October in Sandton. These awards recognise the creative talent required to produce on-air material to assist broadcasters to attract and retain viewers. 
The South African Traditional Music Achievement (SATMA) Awards winners for 2012 have been announced. The Awards were launched in 2005 to promote, preserve, uplift, develop, stage multicultural exchanges, honour and award traditional musicians across racial and ethnic background. 
Music industry veteran Nhlanhla Sibisi has replaced Randall Abrahams as chief executive of the South African Music Awards. 
Big Concerts has announced that the legendary Rodriguez will return to South Africa this summer for live shows in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The two performances are scheduled on Friday, 15 February at the Big Top Arena, Carnival City in Johannesburg and Wednesday, 20 February at the Grand Arena, GrandWest in Cape Town. The tour will be produced by Big Concerts, and presented by Talk Radio 702, 567 CapeTalk and M-Net. 
CHICAGO, US: As household TV screens continue to increase in size, so do the sales and rentals of digital movies. According to Mintel's latest research digital downloads, subscription streaming, and video-on-demand (VOD) sales of movies are expected to increase tenfold in the 10-year period 2007-17. From 2007-12, sales more than quadrupled from US$1.3bn to US$5.5bn. 
