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Relief and joy as land case ends
Iol.co.za - South Africa
Tears of joy flowed on Tuesday when the Richtersveld community received a court order restoring land taken from them 70 years ago.

"I am overwhelmed with joy. I can't hold back my tears," said community leader Willem Diergaardt.

"This is a big moment in the history of the Richtersveld."

The order, by Land Claims Court judge Antonie Gildenhuys, sitting in Cape Town, ended a decade-long legal battle that went all the way to the Constitutional Court.

It came after the state, community representatives and a dissident Richtersveld Action Committee reached agreement on Monday on the terms of a settlement.
Iol.co.za

Integer captures R100m in loan applications in 36 hours
RodneyHayter.com - South Africa
Integer, the newly launched home loan provider, captured over R100 million worth of mortgage applications within 36 hours of business - and over R120 million in its first week of operation.

Of the new applications submitted, 70% were switch mortgages from other lenders, while 20% were for new home purchases and 10% were to refinance bond-free homes.

"This is an excellent start and gives me great confidence that our positioning as competition for the banks is what the consumer wants. People want choice and they are going to have it now that we are up and running", said Simon Stockley, CEO of Integer.
RodneyHayter.com

KwaZulu 'leads valuation race'
Business Day - South Africa
The cost of valuing all the property in KwaZulu-Natal in order to comply with the Municipal Property Rates Act is likely to be more than R335m. Nevertheless, the province is ahead of the rest of SA in completing the valuations. Under the law, each municipality must apply the new rates system by 1 July 2009, meaning that the deadline is less than 18 months away.

The 2004 act seeks to reform the system of levying property rates by municipalities.
It is intended to introduce certainty, uniformity and simplicity in property rating and give municipalities a sufficient and buoyant source of revenue to fulfil their development responsibilities.
Business Day