What to do with our land!!!



Somewhere in the Free State



Recently, I had the opportunity to get out of Joburg to see the countryside and I must say that I’m always amazed by the pure vastness of our country. The city of Joburg is among the most densely populated in the world with people living in tightly packed communities with little space to “breath”. Little wonder that the roads in Joburg are bad, simply due to over-crowding and resultant high volumes of vehicles on the roads, relative to other parts of South Africa.

Yet, as one moves less than 30 kilometres outside of Joburg, in any direction, one is met with vast open fields of land. One can drive very long distances along the highways before one sees any human being’s let along communities. South Africa’s population density is just over 30 people per square kilometer. In comparison, Japan’s density is just over 330 people per square kilometer. However, the record for the most number of people crammed in an area the size of one square kilometer, goes to Macau (+18,000/sq km) and Monaco (+16,000/sq km). In this context, we as South Africans have a lot to be thankful for.

Some of the wealthiest nations in the world have the highest population densities, meaning little free land. This therefore begs the question: are we in South Africa taking full advantage of the abundance of land which we have available to us? My answer is, most definitely not and the challenge is, what more could we be doing with our land!!!

SARS overshoots its mark!

The Union Building in Tshwane

One story that has gone fairly unnoticed in the past couple of weeks was the announcement by the SA Revenue Service (SARS) that it had exceeded its revenue collections target for the 2010/11 financial year. SARS collected R2 Billion more revenue than the targeted amount, but even more amazing is that total collections during this period are 12.6% percent higher than the amount SARS collected in the previous period of 2009/10.

The fact that the news of the high collections rate went unnoticed is perhaps testament to the reputation SARS has built up, that of being one of the most, if not the most, effective state agencies. Is the high collections a function of a growing tax base as a result of a growing economy, or simply a matter of SARS locating those who have been dodging tax payments? 

While I'm sure that occupants of the Union Building must be rejoicing, they must spare a thought for the US Revenue Servive (IRS)

The heavy price of Crude Oil

Gasworks in Braamfontein, Joburg

As I write on this blog, the international price of crude oil has soared to US$119 per barrel. This is the highest price of the commodity since it hit a high of US$147 per barrel in September of 2008 during the global financial crisis. This time around, the cause of the high price of crude oil is of course the protests in Middle East, especially those in Libya, one of the world's biggest supplier of the raw material for petrol and diesel. The protests in Libya have obviously placed huge restrictions on crude oil production in that country, which in turn has caused a decrease in overall global supply of this prized raw material. With the global consumption of crude oil-related products on the increase, the dip in the supply of crude oil could only serve to drive the price of refined products higher than than they already are.

As a direct result of the hike in crude oil prices, in the next few days South African will be paying just under R10 per litre for petrol. This is the highest price ever seen at South African fuel pumps and this is bound to have a negative effect on all areas of the economy. It must be borne in mind that South Africa does not have crude oil reserves and as such the country imports a significant portion of its petrol and diesel requirements. SASOL's coal-to-liquid (CTL) technology provides small but much needed protection and relief against the high crude oil prices. 

I can only wish that the crisis in Libya is resolved soon rather than later so that the price of crude oil  could normalize, lest we see our economy crippled and brought to a stand-still.