Ticketpro gives bus industry a lift
Long distance tickets now sold
Ticketpro, a leading ticketing company, has backed the embattled bus industry after adding long-distance bus tickets to its portfolio of products and services.
“We are very excited to launch and add long-distance bus ticketing to our portfolio. It is part of our evolution and strategy in bringing ticketing to the people of South Africa, to make it easier, saving time, saving money and more convenient for South Africans to buy tickets for their bus trips to other provinces and even neighbouring countries,” said Brandon Duffield, managing director of Ticketpro.
In addition to tickets for trips between provinces, consumers can also buy tickets to travel to other southern African countries including Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Ticketpro is a member of Blue Label Telecoms group of companies.
The bus and coach industry is one of the industries that took a hammering since the outbreak of coronavirus. Greyhound and Citiliner have closed operations. Bus company Putco is also set to retrench 214 staff members as a result of financial distress.
Bazil Govender, executive manager of the Southern African Bus Operators Association, said the industry was in trouble and the government needed to step in.
“During the lockdown phases companies still had to sustain costs and, in collaboration with Nedlac and Business for South Africa, the costs of compliance with safety protocols for Covid-19 were modelled from industry data obtained nationally and came out at R4 767 per bus per month, projecting costs for the bus industry to R102 728 850 per month.”
“The industry implores government and the Department of Transport to facilitate the speedy disbursement of the public transport operations conditional grant set aside for relief and to urgently mandate the correct entities to critically engage the industry stakeholders to prevent further job losses and closure of companies,” said Govender.
Just as early risers – or the famed 5am Club – are able to make the most of their day, those who start early with tax-free investing can reap the benefits of compound returns.
The new tax year begins on March 1. Each tax year, the public gets a valuable perk from the government to encourage saving through an annual allowance of R36 000 that they can invest tax free.
Tax-free investors pay no income, dividend or capital gains tax on their investment returns, which boosts future value.
“If you want your money to work as hard as it can for as long as possible, an optimal solution is to invest in a market-linked option such as a Coronation Tax Free Investment [TFI]. Your money is exposed to growth assets such as shares, bonds and listed property, which can protect it from the eroding effect of inflation and grow it over time through the power of compounding,” said Pieter Koekemoer, head of personal investments at Coronation Fund Managers.
Thinking long-term is easier said than done and many investors are not patient enough to experience the full benefit of staying the course. But, wise investors know that the more patient
they are, the harder compounding will work for them, said Koekemoer.
It’s easier to stay committed to tax-free investing long term if you choose a multi-asset class fund. For most people, when they make their own investment decisions, they may find it difficult to make consistently good decisions over time.
“A simple, manageable solution is to invest tax-free in a multi-asset class unit trust fund,” said Koekemoer. Multi-asset class funds are managed by skilled investment professionals who identify the best longterm opportunities for investors across different asset classes.
Investors can access their money in TFIS, but it’s a pot of savings best left invested.
Tax-free investors can withdraw their money any time, but also need to be aware that they can’t replace it with a new investment. Investors have to be mindful that all amounts they invest count towards their annual (R36 000) and lifetime (R500 000) tax-free limits, regardless of withdrawals.
“A TFI is money you ideally want to leave invested for as long as possible because it is one of the best ways for South Africans who have extra money to save outside of their retirement fund to build up a nest egg for the future,” said Koekemoer.
He added that anyone can start investing via a monthly debit order from as little as R250 with Coronation or make lumpsum investments from R5 000 to R36 000. Those with an existing tax-free savings account with a bank can switch to a long-term TFI at no cost.