In various ways, the month of March was an excellent month for AÏDA. Further to the thousands of promotional Human Rights day cards that were distributed, our “out of the ordinary” branding activities were very successful at important events, such as the Cape Argus cycle tour, the Cape Tourism Arts and Culture Expo in Hout Bay, the Business Opportunity Expo at the Cape Town International Conference Centre, etc.

Although the Western Cape enjoyed a lot of exposure, AÏDA was also involved in other events such as Groblersdal’s Loskop Flying Festival, the 50 year birthday celebration of Upington’s Oranje-Noord Primary School, the CANSA fun run in Upington, the Lala Lapa Manzi Charity Fishing Competition in Bronkhorstspruit, etc.

We are really grateful towards our franchise network for the investments made in the communities that we serve. These investments include money, time, energy, emotion and other resources that consumers regularly require.

Having said that, I briefly want to touch on the topic of heated debate in the Mother City. Due to the fact that most rate payers are easily agitated when it comes to municipal services, rates and taxes, we have the opportunity of making a difference in the lives of consumers on a national basis.

While consumers might think that local authorities are deliberately trying to exploit wealthier rate payers, the fact is that new legislation will eventually affect all rate payers equally throughout the country.

Fact is that “The Local Government Municipal Property Rates Act” of 2004 is now being implemented in certain areas, i.e. the city of Cape Town. This means that the local authority is implementing a new valuation role and higher ratings in terms of a single rating system that will eventually be applied equally by all local authorities.

It has been said that the implementation of this new Act will enhance certainty, uniformity and simplicity in the valuation and rating of properties. Municipalities have until July 2009 to fully implement this new legislation, and it needs to be mentioned that the Act does in fact provide for the exclusion of certain properties from rates in the national interest; that there will be a system of granting relief measures; that there will be fair and equitable evaluation methods and even an objection- and appeals process.

Where does that leave us and the consumer? Well, we have the knowledge, experience and the footprint to offer a complimentary market-related property valuation, based on actual and recent sales, just about everywhere in South Africa.

AÏDA can assist rate payers to obtain realistic valuations, putting them in a position to take informed decisions and to exercise their fundamental rights.

We think that an informed consumer will be a happier consumer; therefore I’ll sign off by quoting Lord Byron: “But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and a life that he leads?”


The National Credit Act is extremely one-sided, in that it creates a huge amount of duties on creditors.

Rights of credit provider

  1. The credit provider’s most important rights are its rights to enforce compliance with the agreement and to receive payment of the credit it has advanced, together with interest as agreed upon between the parties.
  2. It also has the right to cancel the agreement and claim return of goods, in case of breach of contract (i.e. goods sold or let in terms of an instalment sale or a lease).
  3. In the case of a credit facility (a cheque account or credit card account), the credit provider may suspend the facility at any time if the consumer is in breach, or otherwise terminate the facility with 10 (ten) business days’ notice.

In the latter event, the credit provider may not close the account, for example on the ground that the consumer declined its offer to increase the credit limit. The said right therefore is limited.

A credit provider who has incurred costs in the attachment of goods during an enforcement process and who cannot resolve a dispute in that regard with the consumer directly, or through alternative dispute resolution, may approach a court for a costs order.

Duties of credit provider

Every right of a consumer carries with it a corresponding duty on the part of the credit provider. A credit provider’s most important statutory duties are the following:

  1. He must register to be a credit provider;
  2. He must properly assess a credit application by the consumer;
  3. He must furnish the consumer with a pre-agreement statement and quotation, prior to conclusion of an agreement;
  4. He must furnish the consumer with a copy of the agreement;
  5. He consumer must be provided with periodic statements of account, with
    intervals as prescribed in the Act;
  6. The consumer may request a statement of the amount required to settle his account and the credit provider is obliged to furnish it, free of charge;
  7. The credit provider must protect the confidentiality of information pertaining to the consumer that it receives;
  8. The credit provider must report the details of a credit agreement that it has entered into, to the National Credit Register, or to a credit bureau. It must also report the termination or performance of an agreement. When a credit provider’s rights have been transferred to another person, this fact must be reported to the National Credit Register. The cessionary must then perform all the credit provider’s subsequent reporting obligations;
  9. If a consumer is in default, the credit provider may pro- pose to the consumer that he seeks advice in order to resolve any dispute between the parties, or to come up with a plan to bring his pay ments up to date;
  1. A credit provider must main- tain records of credit applica- tions, agreements and accounts;
  2. When a consumer decides to terminate the agreement and to surrender the goods to the credit provider, the credit provider must sell the goods as soon as is practicable for the best price reasonably obtainable and provide the consumer with a financial statement.

Next Month: “Assessment of credit worthiness and reckless credit”

Theart Mey & Ramabulana Inc.
Telephone: (011) 476 9642 • E-mail: natanyab@theartmey.co.za



Sell in May and go away...

Old Stock Exchange adage

Take some profits and keep some money aside for the next buying opportunity – or you run the risk of losing some fat profits made in the recent years. That’s the message from many investment experts, most who say South African investors have had it so good in the last 3 years that it will be hard to repeat the great performance in the next couple of years.

Economic experts meeting at a conference in Cape Town during March feel that South Africans haven’t had such a favourable combination of asset class and economic growth in more than 30 years. In addition, as asset prices have soared, so too have investors’ risk appetites, some remarked.

Newton’s third law states that, in physics, every action has an equal but opposite reaction. This law, as well as the elementary law of gravity, which says “what goes up must come down”, often applies to economics as well.

In the series of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on the detective Sherlock Holmes, the most important element Holmes teaches his assistant Watson is to go back to the basics in every situation: what, why, how, when, etc. Deduction or assumption of any kind can only be allowed once the basics in every case have been determined.

This same approach should be followed in any form of investment: Why should one invest in this specific instrument? How is return on the investment determined? When will this calculated return realise, and what is the cost of the investment?

Interest Rates

That the repo rate was left unchanged at the February meeting does not necessarily mean we have seen the top of this hiking cycle. While we remain of the view that rates have indeed peaked, risks of an April hike are mounting. This is the opinion of Ettienne le Roux from RMB, but he appears to be speaking for a broad spectrum of the economic society in SA.

Exchange Rates

At R7.40 to the US$ - as at the time of writing this report - the rand is currently at its weakest point in a long while, with trend analysis predicting a break to a weaker level more possible than one to the next upward limits.

Movement in the value of the SA currency over the short to medium term will most probably be determined by changes in international interest rates and political stability in neighbouring countries like Zimbabwe.

Property Values

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and in the property market the same applies to the growth prospects of property in various areas. Statistics show that property with a value in excess of R1m will grow at a slower rate than property with a value around R500k. Newspapers, however, continue to post stories of high-end properties with growth of more than 30% over the last 12 months.

To a certain extent property is comparable to investing in listed shares: it is easy to invest when the market as a whole is rising in value. But it is only after the market has run its full cycle that one will be able to determine if an investment had been a good one or not.

Summary

The recent corrections in the value of listed shares confirmed the law of gravity. The short term benefit is that you can buy bargains at the moment – if you know how to spot them. However, the road we are on is not sustainable and we’ll probably see more corrections. Patience is what gets rewarded best in financial markets.

The short to medium term movement of the SA economy will be affected mostly by changes in the interest rate and the direction of the exchange rate of the rand. Return on investment can only be guaranteed if the elementary aspects have been considered from the start, according to Warren Buffet, and then still only if you’re lucky…

To end off this analysis, how about this: Wherever “Elementary, my dear Watson”, the signature phrase associated with Sherlock Holmes, came from, it did not originate with the author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!! It rather - like so many other by now familiar aspects of the Holmes legend – came from others who extended and embellished the portrait originally drawn by Doyle…


After cleaning up our storeroom a while ago, I made the most amazing discovery!

The black and red AÏDA folder in front of me was obviously used for marketing purposes. As I opened this folder, dating back to the 1990’s, the differences between AÏDA then, in relation to now, became clear to me. The focus was much more on Aϊda Geffen’s views and the positioning of AÏDA in the market place. Currently, with the pressure of modern times, the AÏDA folder has become a tool which assists agents with dialogue they can use in order to make presentations, as well as in assisting them when closing a mandate.

The following thought came to my mind:

Aϊda Geffen stated in this folder:

Is this what our nearly R486 billion market offers our clients today? Is this the focus of our work ethic in AÏDA, or is it a situation of chasing the market just to close another deal? I strongly believe that if you service the client the deal will follow. Furthermore, what is the involvement of estate agents in their communities today? Many agents derive lucrative incomes from their farming communities, but they never give back. With hot topics and issues such as crime, each and every agent can get involved in his or her community. A simple thing such as a “crime newsletter” proved to be greatly appreciated when I was still an operational agent.

Furthermore, the black and red folder went on to discuss the most powerful tool ever designed in real estate, namely the sole mandate. Aϊda Geffen believed in the power of a mandate, but the success of a mandate is backed by its marketing plan. Most agents don’t know what a marketing plan is and why it is beneficial to have such a plan!

I urge all our franchisees to teach their agents how to service a mandate. Sadly, many agents I have spoken to can’t tell you what their unique offering is to a client!

Dit is dus met ‘n historiese blik wat ek Aϊda Geffen se passie, kultuur en fokus op dienslewering sien. Ek hoop in my hart dat ons oor 50 jaar verder sal kan terugkyk en kan sệ: “We honestly touched everything and turned into an honourable sold.”

Eiendomswese, histories sowel as huidiglik, is ‘n bedryf wat handel oor mense eerste, en eiendom tweede. Indien agente daarop fokus om hulle kliёnte te diens volgens die historiese sowel as huidiglike perspektiewe van AÏDA, sal die bedryf meer gewig begin dra en meer agente sal eiendom betree as ‘n langtermyn loopbaan.

To conclude with, Aϊda Geffen’s quote from Publius: