hertenberger.co.za

Finally time then to move the last Windows user in the household to a Mac!

The replacement schedule for existing number plates that cars bear in the Gauteng Provice has been published, along with the specification of the new number plates. Nothing much changes in the way the number plates look – the familiar blue on white design with the GP logo stays, though the number format changes to accommodate roughly 200 million registrations. The existing three letter, three digit scheme accommodated only 9 million variations. Differences to the letter colouring occur for governmental vehicles (red), those with personalized plates (green) and vehicles used for public transport (black).

In addition to the change in the letter/number sequence, the new plates will be metallic and will include a 2D barcode as well as an RFID chip. The purpose of the RFID chip is touted as a means of preventing illegally obtained plates from being attached to a vehicle. In my opinion, this is a secondary reason: toll roads and chip readers (already installed on the general highway system surrounding Johannesburg) will be able to utilize information from the RFID chip to charge for road usage and of course to ensure fines for speeding are allocated correctly.

It is likely that the cost of operating a vehicle on the highways of Johannesburg and surrounds will become a very expensive affair in future, not least of which is the requirement of having old number plates replaced at a cost to the vehicle owner in line with specified expiration dates.

The new plates will have a validity period of five years, after which they will have to be renewed once again.

Ciao!

Florida Road, Durban.

Highly recommended – consistent and much the same after all these years…

It’s been another busy year. Here’s wishing you all a great 2010!

A great outing is the Montecasino Bird Park – that should be combined with the Jozi-Eye, which provides a 150m high platform from which to view our fine city. Weather-permitting, the helium-filled balloon flies daily from 08h00 to 20h00 and is winched back down after spending about 15 minutes aloft.

The circular platform carries up to 30 passengers at once – on our morning flight, there was hardly anyone else around and the wind blew the balloon around a bit every now and again.

With clear skies, the view is stunning and well worth it.

May you and yours have a merry Christmas!

Last night saw the final matches in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifications take place. With South Africa qualifying automatically due its status as the host country, 31 other teams have secured their place in next year’s tournament. On 4 December, the official draw will take place in Cape Town to allocate 4 teams per group with 8 groups in total. The draw will dictate when and where individual teams will be playing and enable fans to make final travel arrangements.

Here are the teams, based on their geographic region:

Africa – 6 teams

	Algeria
	Cameroon
	Ghana
	Ivory Coast
	Nigeria
	South Africa

Asia – 4 teams

	Australia
	Japan
	Korea Republic
	Korea DPR

Europe – 13 teams

	Denmark
	England
	France
	Germany
	Greece
	Italy
	Netherlands
	Portugal
	Serbia
	Slovakia
	Slovenia
	Spain
	Switzerland

North America, Central America and the Caribbean – 3 teams

	Honduras
	Mexico
	United States of America

Oceania – 1 team

New Zealand

South America – 5 teams

	Argentina
	Brazil
	Chile
	Paraguay
	Uruguay

For those taxpayers who haven’t yet completed their electronic tax returns, only 12 more days remain. 20 November is the official deadline for submission of tax returns and SARS is no longer pandering to those who file any later than that. Hefty fines are promised.

I got my stuff sorted about two weeks ago, but then waited at least another week before I plugged all the information into the electronic form. Last year, a weird validation issue caused my return to be rejected and necessitated a visit to the local SARS office to complete the return with the aid of a consultant. The error was inexplicable to them too, since the actual filing process proceeded without error. In any case, the overall time it took to get everything done was minimal. This year, I’ve been even more impressed: I clicked the File button on Wednesday morning. By today, my refund had been completed and all documentation stating a clean bill of health provided to me – that’s less than a week! Tax filing season is never pleasant, but I’m very impressed with the speed at which SARS is operating lately. Now if only our other government departments could get in on the act…

With 231 days to go until the first game kicks off in the 2010 World Cup Tournament, our local team is in a bit of a fix. Having performed reasonably well in the Confederations Cup, in my opinion, South Africa slipped up more than once in their recent games. So much so that the coach has been sacked.

Bafana Bafana lack international experience as a team, that much is clear. Their primary weaknesses are a shoddy defensive lineup and an inability to score when presented with an opportunity to do so. The midfield performs reasonably and individuals in the team are more than capable of giving their counterparts in other national sides a run for their money.

With the introduction of new leadership and a possible new coaching style so close to the main event, it’s unlikely that South Africa will be able to remedy all their shortcomings in time. Looks a bit like an uphill battle to me…