Current Edition >> Archive Section >> Special Features >> 16-30 September 2005
According to the magazine Accounting SA, August 2005, the results of Part 1 of the 2005 Qualifying Examination (QE Part 1) indicates a steady pipeline of world-class prospective chartered accountants in South Africa. A record 4 240 candidates wrote the examination which was 10% more than last year. The 1887 candidates passing the QE Part 1 in 2005 is higher than last year's figure of 1783, with a pass rate of 45% for 2005. The 59% pass rate among first time writers in 2005 compares favourably to the pass rate of first time writers of 56% of last year.
Transformation initiatives also remain important for the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). The total number of black candidates increased from 774 in 2004 to 924 in 2005 with an overall pass rate of 27% where the total 245 successful black candidates is the highest number to date.
The top two candidates of the examination are once again women. Karen van Wyk from the University of Johannesburg is number one, with Sharna Tracey Gaydon from the University of Kwazulu Natal ranked second.
Mandi Olivier, the Project Director of Education, emphasises that passing the QE Part 1 is not the final requirement before qualifying as a chartered accountant. Successful candidates still have to complete a specialist diploma, pass either the Public Practice Exam (PPE) or the Financial Management Examination, after completing 18 months practical training in terms of a registered training contract. Candidates can only become full members of SAICA once they have completed their training contracts.
These trends augur well for the SA economy, where, as in any healthy developing economy, high accounting practices are vital.
Die Koepel Avontuurfees wat 14-16 Oktober 2005 in en om Parys aangebied word, vestig opnuut aandag op 'n gebied wat volgens alle aanduidings op die drumpel staan van versnelde ekonomiese ontwikkeling.
Gerugsteun deur sy unieke natuurlike eienskappe wat aanleiding gegee het tot verklaring van die gebied as Wêrelderfenisterrein in Julie vanjaar, asook 'n ligging wat die gebied binne maklike bereik plaas van meer as een-derde van die bevolking van SA, leen die gebied homself ideaal vir 'n buitelug- en avontuurfees sonder weerga in die land.
Die fees wat vanjaar vir die tweede keer aangebied word, beloof om duisende deelnemers aan talle sport- en avontuurgeleenthede op die program te trek, tesame met hul gesinslede en ondersteuners. Dit beteken 'n ekonomiese inspuiting vir 'n dorp en omgewing wat alreeds ekonomies sterk groei toon. Die fietsry-items vorm die grootste deel van die program, terwyl daar ook uitstalruimtes vir besighede beskikbaar is.
Volgens mnr. Saal de Jager, 'n lid van die Parys Ontwikkelingsforum wat die fees aanbied, word vanjaar sowat 35 000 besoekers verwag aan die verskillende aktiwiteite en fasette van die fees - dubbeld die getal van verlede jaar.
Parys is 'n ekonomies-lewenskragtige dorp met sterk koopkrag, terwyl dit omring is deur 'n vibrante boerderydistrik. Die verklaring tot Wêrelderfenisgebied het voorts internasionale status aan die Gebied verleen, met alles wat dit behels.
Gegee hierby die buitengewone toerismepotensiaal van die streek en die mekka van buitelug- en avontuur-geleenthede wat dit is, dan word al die bestanddele gevind vir wat beskryf kan word as 'n sosio-ekonomiese ontploffing.
Hierdie spesiale oorsig bied, nie net vir besoekers aan die Koepel Avontuurfees nie, maar ook vir voornemende entrepreneurs en beleggers, 'n venster op die opwindende geleenthede van die gebied.
Let veral op wat die adverteerders wil sê en kontak hulle gerus as plaaslike mense wat inisiatief neem om dinge te laat gebeur.
The magnitude of the Vredefort meteorite is truly amazing if the following pertinent facts are considered:
Age: 2 2023 million years (Making Vredefort the oldest known impact structure in the world)
Original crater diameter: 250 to 300 km (Thus Vredefort is one of the three largest impact structures known on earth)
Depth: The excavated transient crater would have been up to 50 km deep, but it quickly collapsed.
Depth of the final crater: Not well-known; likely ± 40 km, but the ring basin around the central uplift could have been deeper than 15 km.
Excavated volume: 70 000 km3
Energy released upon projectile explosion: 100 million megatons of TNT (1 megatons is 1 million tons!)
Total duration of transient crater growth: 4 Minutes!
Total duration of final crater growth: Some 15 minutes!
Size of the projective: Depending on its density, velocity and impact angle, between 5 and 15 km.
Seismic events caused by the impact: Around magnitude 14 on the Richter Scale (That means that these events would have been 100 000 times as powerful as the worst earthquake recorded in recent times, viz. the one that struck China in 1976 when an estimated 290 000 people perished).
Distribution of the ejecta: Hundreds of kilometers, with a very thick blanket near the crater, decreasing in thickness to just a metre some 350-500 km from the crater.
Environmental effects: Blasting off some atmosphere and, if the impact was into a shallow ocean, a lot of oceanic water / Post-impact earthquakes still of enormous magnitude, while the crust recovered from this gigantic disturbance / Landslides and, though strongly debated, perhaps volcanism in other parts of the world / If the impact was into an ocean of substantial depth, possibly tsunamis / Rain of hot and molten ejecta / Dust injection into the upper atmosphere and even higher resulted in global cooling / Depending on the composition of the upper target rock, production of acid rain.
The 2005 Ride Crater Cruise 97 km and 50 km cycling events take place Sunday, 16 October. Both events take place from the Silhouette Arena, 11 Carl Preller Avenue, Parys (old Arwa factory). Parking at the Silhouette Arena throughout the weekend will be for free. No additional entry fees are charged to participants and their families for the Silhouette Arena.
The 97 km Ride Crater Cruise Marathon is sanctioned by Cycling SA and forms part of the Mazda Marathon Mountain Bike Series, as well as the RCI Mountain Bike Half Marathon Series.
Entries can be done beforehand online at www.cyclelab.com. Closing date Monday, 3 October 2005. No entries on race day are allowed.
You will need a mountain bike to participate in the event. Front suspension is recommended. Efforts are made to keep all traffic off the route, but light local traffic is inevitable. Care should be taken to obey traffic rules. No support vehicles are permitted on the cycle route.
For full detail about the Ride Crater Cruise, see www.cratercruise.co.za.
Other related events are the following :
Ride Kêtáthelon - Saturday 15 October, 10:00
A world first, this event requires mountain bikers to complete circuits of off-road course, before striking a target with a kêttie to continue.
Riders need to bring own bikes and kêtties, but ammunition will be supplied. This is a Champion Chip timed event; no chip, no participation!
For more information see www.cratercruise.co.za
Ride MTB Expo - Friday 14 October - Sunday 16 October at the Silhouette Arena
For more info contact Edwin Wilmot at edwin@ride.co.za or 082 782 9889.
Ride Crazy Kidz Cruise - Saturday 15 October
Open to all riders under the age of 12, this takes place at the Silhouette Arena. All routes pass under the Eiffel Tower!
For more information, www.cratercruise.co.za
MYCOSPOR Parys Riverjol - Saturday 15 October.
A 25/10 run and a 5 km Fun-Run, starting from 06:30, Silhouette Arena.
Enter online at www.saactive.com
General info
www.cratercruise.co.za
Palm Gate Centre in the CBD of Parys is being extended to more than twice it's existing size at a project cost of some R7 million. In the process 13 new business premises are being created and the shopping centre now covers the whole street block between Phillip and Water Streets. The inauguration date is set for 29 September 2005.
The owner of the Palm Gate Centre, Mr. Peter Papavarnavas, told the Free State Business Bulletin that all premises in this new centre have been rented out. The new tenants include a drive-thru KFC.
As such the centre is evidence of the strong buying power at Parys and the demand for consumer goods of a great variety.
It is the first fully fledged shopping centre at Parys and within the Vredefort Dome region.
It started in 1993 when Joe Viljoen pioneered highly interesting research and rehabilitation of fauna and flora on the farm Chazen near Vredefort on the Viljoenskroon road situated right in the heart of the Dome Area.
Implementing a conservancy to preserve and protect local flora and fauna, Joe commenced eradicating foreign species of plants such as the Australian bluegum, in order to reintroduce indigenous plants. He furthermore conducted environmental impact research on types of wild life originally in the area as well as to which species can now live and survive in the area. He worked on a balance between browsers and grazers, because if too much leaves are grazed off a tree, the tree starts producing tannin in order to protect itself. This can be fatal to a herbivore if it ingests too much tannin. The number of herbivores per hectare is also critical for controlling erosion levels. Another critical factor is management of a good gene pool within species of animals.
Joe achieved astounding results in his rehabilitation efforts and today Chazen Nature Reserve is home to four of the Big 5, as well as to 53 other species of mammals, while 165 different bird species has been recorded at Chazen over a two day period.
At Chazen due provision for visitors and tourists has also been made in the form of excellent accommodation, catering and recreational facilities. Even a Health and Wellbeing Centre has been established, offering services such as nature hikes, reflexology and massages by skilled therapists.
Having also been engaged the past 10 years in the international market, Chazen is in association with enStyle Décor Centre upgrading its chalets and lodge facilities.
The latter is an unique design and décor centre situated in Breë Street, Parys, and as brain child of entrepreneur Letitia Hattingh, is offering an absorbing variety of top quality products from established designers, artists and manufacturers across South Africa. These include amongst others Pieter Oosthuizen Interiors, Persian Carpets, Ironwood Creations, Sikatonga Tribal Arts, Silk & Cotton Co, Mexican Imports and HeatWave, to name but a few of the 49 showcasing exhibitors. At Feast, the up-market in-store coffee shop, palatable needs of visitors are being taken care of.
Now these two forces - Chazen Private Nature Reserve representing African nature at its best and enStyle Décor Centre - has combined to create in the form of the interior settings at Chazen some quite unique African elegance and splendour.
As such, simply a must see!
And if they could do that for Chazen, something magnificent could also be done for you at your place!
enStyle
Tel/Fax: (056) 811 3116
Letitia - 082 558 6960
Chazen
Tel/Fax: (056) 931 0752
Joe - 082 336 6203
The Vredefort Dome was proclaimed a World Heritage Site on 14 July 2005 at the 29th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Conference in Durban. With that, South Africa is now home to seven world heritage sites.
But, what is the Vredefort Dome all about?
Prof. Wolf Reimold of the School of Geosciences at Wits University, who has done long and extensive research on the subject, is probably the foremost expert in South Africa on the matter. He describes this meteorite that crashed into the earth near Vredefort as the single greatest geological catastrophe yet uncovered on our planet. “It was four minutes that quite literally shook the world.”, he says.
Reimold is the co-author of a new book entitled Meteorite Impact! The danger from space and South Africa's Mega-Impact: The Vredefort Structure, which explains how the lesson learned from the rocks around Vredefort are being used throughout the world to teach a new generation of scientists of the reality and danger of similar events in future. The other author is Prof. Roger Gibson also of the Wits School of Geosciences, Prof. Kevin Balkwill from the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences (APES) contributed the botanical material to the book.
The book reviews more than 200 000 years of human habitation in the Dome area with its exceptional natural beauty and biodiversity. This history starts with the early San hunters, whose graceful art is found today on rocks formed during the impact. Successive settlements of Sotho-Tswana, Afrikaner and British farmers are also discussed, including the landmark wars that affected the region over the last centuries. The book also documents the rich geological, archaeological, cultural and botanical heritage being presented by the Vredefort region. It concludes with a guide to more than 20 sites highlighting the heritage of the area.
The book also points out that there are currently more than 788 World Heritage Sites in 134 countries, of which 63 are in Africa, including South Africa's seven.
The book by Reimold and Gibson can be ordered from Chris van Rensburg Publications, tel. 011 726 4350. This book is available at the Parys Info Office at 62B Breë Street.
Developments in and around Northridge Mall are at present evidently rapidly moving to a head with the upgrading of the centre aimed at meeting the surge in new residential units in the surrounding areas.
Amongst the current upgrading at Northridge Mall, are four new cinemas with brand-new sound equipment, interiors and amenities, restructured shopping premises, a complete revamp of the floor tiling and further upgrading of exterior features. Most of these are to be completed by November this year.
In the immediate environment of Northridge Mall, i.e. adjacent to Helicon Heights, Pentagon Park, Dan Pienaar, Sewe Damme and Hillsboro, some 2 500 new residential units, mostly in the form of upmarket townhouse complexes and retirement villages, are either being built or are in an advanced stage of planning. At present 11 new residential complexes are under construction.
Also, importantly, is that the existing street system serving Helicon Heights and Pentagon Park are to be extended early in 2006 to link up directly with Northridge Mall.
This special feature provides a glance at Northridge Mall, the businesses making it happen and the exciting surrounding developments.
If you frequent the businesses advertising in this Northridge feature you would also meet the following friendly and helpful people :
Ronette of Desley Furniture, inviting you to see all the beautiful, enchanting furniture on offer.
Francois van der Merwe of Evolution Health, telling you about an exciting evolutionary style of living.
Knightsbridge Exclusive's, Mark Oberem and Marx Kruger, offering exquisite clothing from London as well as their shuttle service, Leicester Square, to transport you around in style.
Kenneth Venter of Let's go Bowling offering a leisurely breakaway customised for family and friends.
Emily Tsai of Miss Mod Fashion offering a range of exquisite clothing for the extraordinary lady.
Michelle Correia of MTN Northridge Mall supplying a trendy range of cellular phones, products and services.
Anné of Northridge Pharmacy providing expert advice on medication and health and beauty products.
Hennie of Oscar's showing you the kind of clothing fit for the discerning gentleman.
Genoniva and Woodridge of 0861 Travel is on standby to help you literally going places.
Tina of Tina's Farm Produce intrducing you to a remarkable enterprise.
At Café Dulce Eleanor and Debbie will serve you refreshingly while you take a breather for the next round!
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