The effects and influences of South African taxation on the valuation of company shares, business interests and other assets

This document has been prepared in two parts. The first part deals with some basic aspects of valuations and the major aspects of taxation which should be borne in mind by a valuer. The second part, which commences on page 102, is a compendium of brief comment on tax matters and tax cases which may be of interest to a valuer. The document is based on research carried out in relation to: The Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962, as amended, inclusive of the 1989 Amending Act; The Sales Tax Act No. 103 of 1978, as amended; and The Estate Duty Act No. 45 of 1955, as amended. Due to subsequent amendments to the legislation certain aspects of taxation dealt with in this document may no longer apply, but there has been comment and expectations in many instances that some of the changes are likely to be reintroduced. I have accordingly included my findings from the research carried out as this could be helpful in the event of a reintroduction of the affected legislation. Since preparing this document, The Sales Tax Act is no longer of force or effect and has been replaced with The Value Added Tax Act of 1991. There are many aspects of this new legislation which also require the consideration and attention of a valuer. I have not dealt with these aspects in detail in this document

Sing, Sing! Birds On The Wings

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Fate of sulphate removed during the treatment of circumneutral mine water and acid mine drainage with coal fly ash: Modelling and experimental approach

The treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) and circumneutral mine water (CMW) with South African coal fly ash (FA) provides a low cost and alternative technique for treating mine wastes waters. The sulphate concentration in AMD can be reduced significantly when AMD was treated with the FA to pH 9. On the other hand an insignificant amount of sulphate was removed when CMW (containing a very low concentration of Fe and Al) was treated using FA to pH 9. The levels of Fe and Al, and the final solution pH in the AMD–fly ash mixture played a significant role on the level of sulphate removal in contrast to CMW–fly ash mixtures. In this study, a modelling approach using PHREEQC geochemical modelling software was combined with AMD–fly ash and/or CMW–fly ash neutralization experiments in order to predict the mineral phases involved in sulphate removal. The effects of solution pH and Fe and Al concentration in mine water on sulphate were also investigated. The results obtained showed that sulphate, Fe, Al, Mg and Mn removal from AMD and/or CMW with fly ash is a function of solution pH. The presence of Fe and Al in AMD exhibited buffering characteristic leading to more lime leaching from FA into mine water, hence increasing the concentration of Ca2+. This resulted in increased removal of sulphate as CaSO4·2H2O. In addition the sulphate removal was enhanced through the precipitation as Fe and Al oxyhydroxysulphates (as shown by geochemical modelling) in AMD–fly ash system. The low concentration of Fe and Al in CMW resulted in sulphate removal depending mainly on CaSO4·2H2O. The results of this study would have implications on the design of treatment methods relevant for different mine waters.Web of Scienc

Quality of basic maternal care functions in health facilities of fi ve African countries: an analysis of national health system surveys

Background Global eff orts to increase births at health-care facilities might not reduce maternal or newborn mortality if quality of care is insuffi cient. However, little systematic evidence exists for the quality at health facilities caring for women and newborn babies in low-income countries. We analysed the quality of basic maternal care functions and its association with volume of deliveries and surgical capacity in health-care facilities in fi ve sub-Saharan African countries. Methods In this analysis, we combined nationally representative health system surveys (Service Provision Assessments by the Demographic and Health Survery Programme) with data for volume of deliveries and quality of delivery care from Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. We measured the quality of basic maternal care functions in delivery facilities using an index of 12 indicators of structure and processes of care, including infrastructure and use of evidence-based routine and emergency care interventions. We regressed the quality index on volume of births and confounders (public or privately managed, availability of antiretroviral therapy services, availability of skilled staffi ng, and country) stratifi ed by facility type: primary (no caesarean capacity) or secondary (has caesarean capacity) care facilities. The Harvard University Human Research Protection Program approved this analysis as exempt from human subjects review. Findings The national surveys were completed between April, 2006, and May, 2010. Our sample consisted of 1715 (93%) of 1842 health-care facilities that provided normal delivery service, after exclusion of facilities with missing (n=126) or invalid (n=1) data. 1511 (88%) study facilities (site of 276 965 [44%] of 622 864 facility births) did not have caesarean section capacity (primary care facilities). Quality of basic maternal care functions was substantially lower in primary (index score 0·38) than secondary care facilities (0·77). Low delivery volume was consistently associated with poor quality, with diff erences in quality between the lowest versus highest volume facilities of –0·22 (95% CI –0·26 to –0·19) in primary care facilities and –0·17 (–0·21 to –0·11) in secondary care facilities. Interpretation More than 40% of facility deliveries in these fi ve African countries occurred in primary care facilities, which scored poorly on basic measures of maternal care quality. Facilities with caesarean section capacity, particularly those with birth volumes higher than 500 per year, had higher scores for maternal care quality. Low-income and middle-income countries should systematically assess and improve the quality of delivery care in health facilities to accelerate reduction of maternal and newborn deaths

Analyzing the effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war on Kenya’s agrifood systems and policy responses

This policy brief examines the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war on Kenya’s agrifood systems, focusing on its impact on food security and the country’s policy responses to counter the effects of the war. Drawing from official data, scholarly articles, institution reports, and online news sources, this brief encompasses the period from January 2019 to February 2023 to provide a nuanced understanding of the events leading up to and following the conflict. The results show that the Russia-Ukraine war resulted in high fuel and fertilizer prices in Kenya, negatively impacting overall crop productivity, agricultural sector employment, and, by extension, the entire economy. By examining data on food, fertilizer, fuel prices, inflation, and other vital indicators, this brief unravels the dynamics affecting Kenya’s agrifood systems contributing to a deeper understanding of Kenya's vulnerability to global geopolitical events. The results underscore the necessity of responsive policy strategies to ensure food security and economic resilience throughout the country

Mobility impairment is associated with reduced microstructural integrity of the inferior and superior cerebellar peduncles in elderly with no clinical signs of cerebellar dysfunction☆

While the cerebellum plays a critical role in motor coordination and control no studies have investigated its involvement in idiopathic mobility impairment in community-dwelling elderly. In this study we tested the hypothesis that structural changes in the cerebellar peduncles not detected by conventional magnetic resonance imaging are associated with reduced mobility performance. The analysis involved eighty-five subjects (age range: 75–90 years) who had no clinical signs of cerebellar dysfunction. Based on the short physical performance battery (SPPB) score, we defined mobility status of the subjects in the study as normal (score 11–12, n = 26), intermediate (score 9–10, n = 27) or impaired (score < 9, n = 32). We acquired diffusion tensor imaging data to obtain indices of white matter integrity: fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity (RD). Using a parcellation atlas, regional indices within the superior, middle, and inferior cerebellar peduncles (ICP, MCP, SCP) were calculated and their associations with mobility performance were analyzed. Subjects with impaired mobility showed reduced FA and AD values in the ICP and SCP but not in the MCP. The ICP-FA, ICP-AD and SCP-FA indices showed a significant association with the SPPB score. We also observed significant correlation between ICP-FA and walk time (r = − 0.311, p = 0.004), as well as between SCP-AD and self-paced maximum walking velocity (r = 0.385, p = 0.003) and usual walking velocity (r = 0.400, p = 0.002). In logistic regression analysis ICP-FA and ICP-AD together explained 51% of the variability in the mobility status of a sample comprising the normal and impaired subgroups, and correctly classified more than three-quarters of those subjects. Our findings suggest that presence of microstructural damage, likely axonal, in afferent and efferent connections of the cerebellum contributes to the deterioration of motor performance in older people

District health expenditure mapping : a budget analysis tool for council health management teams

The District Health Expenditure Mapping Tool has been developed by the Ministry of Health’s Tanzania Essential Health Interventions Project (TEHIP) in response to a District need and demand for a one-page summary and one-page graphical "picture" of their comprehensive, annual Council Health Plan. // This tool is intended to help Districts understand the accumulated total financial resources they have budgeted (or expended) in their plan; the respective sources from which they expect their revenue; and the major interventions and activities to which these funds are allocated. // The tool is based on a matrix relating activities to financial resources such that these health sector allocations can be determined at a glance. The tool calculates both the proportional shares of investment and the absolute per capita investments in the Comprehensive Council Health Plan (CCHP) in terms of all funding partners, and in terms of all core essential health interventions and health system support activities. In anticipation of the National Sentinel System of demographic surveillance sites for burden of disease estimates, it also integrates a District Burden of Disease Profile to provide a graphical comparison of the intervention addressable disease burden and the intervention priorities as selected and reflected in Comprehensive Council Health Plan budgets and expenditures. The tool further calculates the relative shares for curative vs. preventive/promotive expenditure; capital vs. recurrent expenditure; and direct support for health service delivery vs. general health system support. Finally, the tool provides additional basic statistics and specific graphs for the newly introduced Sector Wide Approach (SWAp) Council Health Basket Grant portion of the District Health budget and expenditure

Optogenetics design of mechanistically-based stimulation patterns for cardiac defibrillation

Current rescue therapies for life-threatening arrhythmias ignore the pathological electro-anatomical substrate and base their efficacy on a generalized electrical discharge. Here, we developed an all-optical platform to examine less invasive defibrillation strategies. An ultrafast wide-field macroscope was developed to optically map action potential propagation with a red-shifted voltage sensitive dye in whole mouse hearts. The macroscope was implemented with a random-access scanning head capable of drawing arbitrarily-chosen stimulation patterns with sub-millisecond temporal resolution allowing precise epicardial activation of Channelrhodopsin2 (ChR2). We employed this optical system in the setting of ventricular tachycardia to optimize mechanistic, multi-barrier cardioversion/defibrillation patterns. Multiple regions of conduction block were created with a very high cardioversion efficiency but with lower energy requirements as compared to whole ventricle interventions to interrupt arrhythmias. This work demonstrates that defibrillation energies can be substantially reduced by applying discrete stimulation patterns and promotes the progress of current anti-arrhythmic strategies

Recognition of vitamin B metabolites by mucosal-associated invariant T cells

The mucosal-associated invariant T-cell antigen receptor (MAIT TCR) recognizes MR1 presenting vitamin B metabolites. Here we describe the structures of a human MAIT TCR in complex with human MR1 presenting a non-stimulatory ligand derived from folic acid and an agonist ligand derived from a riboflavin metabolite. For both vitamin B antigens, the MAIT TCR docks in a conserved manner above MR1, thus acting as an innate-like pattern recognition receptor. The invariant MAIT TCR a-chain usage is attributable to MR1-mediated interactions that prise open the MR1 cleft to allow contact with the vitamin B metabolite. Although the non-stimulatory antigen does not contact the MAIT TCR, the stimulatory antigen does. This results in a higher affinity of the MAIT TCR for a stimulatory antigen in comparison with a non-stimulatory antigen. We formally demonstrate a structural basis for MAIT TCR recognition of vitamin B metabolites, while illuminating how TCRs recognize microbial metabolic signatures