"Impossible is Nothing"

FNB Stadium Construction, Joburg

What is amazing about the picture above is not the emerging calabash design of the FNB Stadium but the fact that this is what the stadium looked like under construction in April of 2009, just over twelve months before the opening match of the now almost-forgotten 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the photo, you can see that construction work still concentrated on the main building with the surrounding areas largely untouched.

After taking this photo, I must honestly say that I had my doubts about whether or not construction would be completed in time for the big Kick-off match scheduled for 11 June 2010. All doubts were however put to rest when the stadium was officially completed in January of 2010 and certified fit and ready to host the FIFA World Cup matches.

I thought completion would be impossible, but to great relief, impossible turned to be nothing. The rest is quite frankly, history. 

The force of nature!

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan

Watching the effects of the earth quake in Japan reminded me of scenes from movies such as "Independence Day", where cars, buildings, trains and anything else in the way, was swept by a deluge of water. The television images from Japan are enough to make even the most hardened, feel sympathy to those who have now been effectively left destitute.

In the aftermath of the earth quake and the resulting tsunami, there's been more focus on the safety of nuclear energy. The possible and looming meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, has put a question mark on the wisdom of nuclear technology in general. However, to be dair, not even the scientists involved in the building and design of the Fukushima power plant could have predicted that the structure would ever have to face up to one of the strongest earth quakes in history.

The message is, you can never over-estimate the force of nature.

The CO2 Emmissions Tax is here

One of the lead indicators of GDP activity in any economy is the sales of new vehicles and according to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), new car sales sales in February 2011 grew by 25% compared to sales in February of 2010. This clearly indicates that the SA economy is running at relatively high octane levels. Of course, more vehicles on the road means more fuel consumption and more fuel taxes to be collected by government.

A fact that is easy to miss out on in the midst of all thus hype about our economy is that from 1 March this year, the government will start to levy a CO2 tax on all new light commercial vehicles. This means that the SA Revenue Service (SARS) will increase its revenue pool, albeit by a small margin, but an increase nonetheless. What is not clear, however is whether or not government will invest this additional money in initiatives related to CO2 emissions reduction or other unrelated social spending items.