Late yesterday afternoon a child escaped abduction from the grounds of a church in Hilton where she was waiting for her mother to collect her from a regular extramural activity. Thank goodness she did not buy the line, 'Hi I am Samuel and your mother sent me to collect you.' Stepping back abruptly from the car, her reaction surprised the driver of a golf and he sped away. She is safe but this could have been a tragedy. Please empower your children with knowledge so they too know how to respond if confronted with this situation. The code system is simple and works very well.

Simply choose a code word your family only know, such as Dad's nickname or the favourite family dinner. If you have to ask someone else to collect your child you can tell them the code word and teach your children to only accept a lift from someone you know who also supplies the code word. This code word must be changed each time it has been divulged.

Let's be sure the only hands our children hold onto are safe ones!

Our Hilton Community Police Forum and Hilton Bobbies constantly work at keeping Hilton under surveillance. Join up today to ensure the benefit of their efforts is sustained.

Holy Family Convent classmates, Maureen Jardim (nee Cunningham) and Olivia Schaffer (nee Getaz), who last saw each other when they were together in standard three - some 54 years ago - began a walk down memory lane together at a HiltonVillage.co.za Business Network meeting in May.

Recognition sparked slowly as Maureen remembered being at school with an Olivia, a name she had not often come across. By the end of the evening they were remembering friends and agreed to meet for coffee with me and share some of their common history.

In the sunshine outside Jaxx recollections of their old school days included acrobatic dance concerts in the hall that is now part of Rosewood Retirement Village, climbing huge trees, playing in the bamboo at the bottom of the school yard, lunch in the big dining room, hockey games on the fields by the Dusi, swim lessons at Buchanan Street baths and the smart black and red striped uniforms they wore with pride in winter. The 'Marie-biscuit brown' summer dresses were remembered somewhat less fondly.

Olivia lived in Hilton and would travel to school in Pietermaritzburg daily by train, she recalled waiting at the station on her suitcase for her father to finish work so they could return home together and arriving at Leonard's station asleep on her dad's shoulder, at the end of a very long day. Once they got a car they drove, unless it rained. In the rain Cedara Road became impassable as it was just a gravel road and in a heavy downpour became a mud track.

Olivia befriended a girl called Lynette who had a bicycle which was the envy of many of the girls who could not afford such a luxury. Olivia would happily push Lynette's bicycle all the way up West Street just so people passing would think it was her own!

Maureen lived in West Street and walked to school. Her biggest passion at school was diving, she trained at Alexandra Baths and recalled how it was with a heart beating fast enough to leave her chest that she began to learn this exciting skill after much time spent watching the professionals diving off the high board.

They both agreed that if the Jacaranda flowers in West Street were falling and you had not studied for end of year exams, it was too late to start!

Another fond memory was of their hockey and tennis coach Ruth Stevens who currently lives in Pietermaritzburg. She is the mother of retired South African professional tennis player, Greer.

The most fascinating thread that unravelled over coffee was that both Maureen and Olivia had lived in Cape Town in the eighties and been part of the same Jazz Art dance studio but not met face to face.

Isn't it amazing what you can discover at a business network meeting!

Maureen is the owner of ZEST Massage and Olivia is the PA to Patrick Greenaway at ActionCOACH.

The bright sunshine and relatively warm weather on Tuesday saw forty players on the green at Hilton Bowling Club.

There were giant grapefruit and slightly smaller avos to be won, courtesy of John Fowler and Thelma Mylne. Thanks to these two for adding to the competitiveness of the afternoon.

Main news of the week was the wedding on Saturday of Jean Binnendyk to John Pluke. Our congratulations to you both. May you be blessed with the pitter-patter and happy chatter of many great grandchildren.

The men's fourth league team will play their last match of the league away against Umgeni on Saturday. Members playing at Hilton will compete for chickens.

The draw for the Quarry Spar Harry Cooper Cup competition will be done publically at 08:15 on Saturday 22nd June.

Thelma's Lotto was not won last week and the kitty has been carried over. The next draw will take place on Thursday this week.

New duty lists will be posted on the board soon. Please check for your obligations to the club.

Duties: 16 – 22 June: OOD: George Oldham. Tabs: Chris Purchase. Duty team: Des Morrish.

Teas on 22 June: Not applicable – Quarry Spar Lunch. Biscuits: On 18 & 20 June: Basil Fann & John Fowler.

News in from Hilton Bowling Club.

St Anne's girls donned their house colours on Wednesday 5 May and stood in tree formation to mark World Environment Day. The coloured house t-shirts symbolise fruits and abundance with the blue circle being the earth binding us all.

News and photograph supplied by St Anne's Diocesan College in Hilton, KZN.

What is withholding tax?

Withholding tax, also know as non-residents tax or retention tax, is defined by the nature of the tax. Governments require the bank or the payer of the funds, the withholding agent, to retain a percentage of the funds paid to foreigners. The withheld amount is then paid, by the withholding agent, to the countries tax authority. The payer is therefore responsible for withholding the funds and not the payee.

The payee, or recipient of the funds, would need to be resident in a different country from where the payment is being made. This non-resident could be an individual having received employment income or a company having rendered services. The service rendered would need to have taken place in the country wanting to withhold taxes.

Put simply, if you provide a service in another country you will have to pay withholding tax.

There are certain exemptions from withholding tax. These differ in each country.

Can you claim back withholding tax?

Make sure you obtain the withholding tax certificate from the payer. This certificate can be used to reduce your income tax in your country of residence. For example: You provided a service to a company in Tanzania. You are a resident in South Africa. When the company pays you, or your company, for the service rendered, the withholding agent retains 20% of the invoice to pay to the local tax authority.

When your tax return is submitted, you can declare the foreign tax credits and withholding tax credits and thereby reduce your tax due on taxable income.

Remember withholding tax is levied on Turnover/Fees, so the effective tax deductible from tax on profits is higher than expected.

What are the withholding tax rates in East and Southern Africa?

Withholding taxes are applied at different rates depending on what is being taxed. Services, sale of immovable property, dividends, interest and royalties. All need to be considered for the different rates. The table below is an example of withholding tax rates on services rendered, without any exemptions applied.

Country Rate Website Link

Botswana 15% Botswana (BURS), Withholding Tax

Kenya 20% Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Withholding Tax

Malawi 20% Malawi (MRA), Withholding Tax

Mozambique 20% Website not accessible at the time of this article.

South Africa 15% South Africa (SARS), Withholding Tax, page 41

Swaziland 15% Swaziland (SRA), Withholding Tax

Tanzania 20% Website not accessible at the time of this article.

Zambia 15% Zambia (ZRA), Withholding Tax

Zimbabwe 15% Zimbabwe (ZIMRA), Withholding Tax

SADAC Region exemptions

There is a drive on between the SADAC region countries to reduce or remove restrictions on trade within the region. This has led to certain exemptions or reductions in the withholding tax of SADAC region countries. For example, withholding tax on trade between South Africa and Mozambique is agreed to be 5%, provided all the necessary documentation has been filed with the respective revenue authorities. Similar agreements are emerging and are likely to be in place across the SADAC region in the next few years.

Take a look at a recent article on the new Double Tax Agreement South Africa and Mauritius. New DTA

Written and kindly submitted by Sheldon Conway of Business Soul Accounting.

On Thursday afternoon, the members present voted to drop the "Support the Sponsors" Lucky Draw in favour of greater participation in Thelma's Lotto. Chris Purchase won the last draw with a till slip from the Quarry Spar.

The ladies finished off their league matches with a win against PMB Wanderers on Saturday. The men's third league team played Umgeni, winning on one rink and peeling on the other.

The entry form for the Quarry Spar Harry Cooper Cup competition is on the board.

Thelma has received the latest consignment of club shirts. If you ordered one, please collect it and pay Thelma.

It has been decided to do the draw for Thelma's Lotto on Thursday evenings, as Saturdays seem to be very busy at the moment.

The Chicken Run scheduled for Saturday 8th June has been postponed to the 15th.

Duties: 9 – 15 June: OOD: Thelma Mylne. Tabs: George Oldham. Duty team: John Pluke.

Teas on 15 June: Graham Appleby & Peter Ayerst. Biscuits: On 11 & 13 June: Ron Buchel & Joan Byrom.

News in from Hilton Bowling Club.

Grace College past pupil and deputy head girl in 2009, Monique Lilje, achieved 'best overall academic performance' during her 3 year study period for the BCOM degree, specializing in Entrepreneurship. Monique is now the proud manageress of the first Wakaberry franchise in Pretoria. Grace College is proud of this well-deserved achievement and wishes Monique every success for her future endeavours.

News and image supplied by Grace College.

A visit to Kwa Cheetah at Nambiti ignited in local pupils Lauren and Kezia the enthusiasm to hold a fete to raise awareness and money for cheetahs. This decision was made after the manager at Kwa Cheetah told Lauren that by the time she has children, we will no longer see cheetah in the wild. This comment sparked her into action and she recruited the help of her friend Kezia.

We hope you will support the fete fundraiser to be held at Hilton Tennis Club on the 22nd June 2013.

In the photograph above you will see one photo of Lauren (on right sitting up) and Kezia (in front) with Yakir. This cheetah's mom stepped on her shoulders when she was born so she can't be released back into the wild - she now hangs around the coffee shop at the Kwa Cheetah breeding project. Dylan, Lauren's brother is peering out the back!

Below is a photo of Lauren with a cheetah.

Well done to Lauren and Kezia, we wish you huge success in your mission!

Congratulations to Connor van der Heever (SA u16),Harrison Franke (SA u16), Stuart Bulterman (SA u17) and Joshua Hodgson (SA u17), who received their South African School Rowing Colours. All four boys represented South Africa in Ghent, Belgium last weekend. This is a wonderful achievement and well done on reaching this milestone.

Pictured here (L-R) Connor van der Heever, Harrison Franke, Stuart Bulterman, Joshua Hodgson

News and photo supplied by Hilton College.

The first and second soccer teams of Laddsworth Primary School in Hilton recently played against the Hope Trust Under 14 side from Sweetwaters.

Hope Trust is a church-based NGO that engages in development and welfare work in Sweetwaters. The Trust's team won 3-2 against the first team and beat the second team 3-0.
Sean Veenstra, sports co-ordinator at Laddsworth said: "We thoroughly enjoyed having Hope Trust over for the fixtures. The boys played the game in good spirit and everyone had fun. We hope this will be an on-going event."

Linda Ambler, welfare programme director, at Hope Trust said: "We are very grateful to the Laddsworth community for their ongoing support of Hope Trust. This first sports fixture was a wonderful idea of Laddsworth's and we hope that it will be the first of many more."

Pictured here are the Laddsworth first team and the Hope Trust U14 team before their match with Hope Trust's two youth workers and the match referee.

News and photo supplied by Laddsworth Primary School.

Sitting under a marquee at the official opening of The Gates at Hilton watching the sun slowly setting across the Umgeni River valley and hearing how the project was seeded, nurtured and has now reached the conclusion of the services phase, offered guests an insight to the lifestyle this prestigious property development will deliver.

The Gates at Hilton holds the promise of graceful country living in a nature lover's haven, securely embraced by a school community that is steeped in history and traditions which live on. Residents of The Gates at Hilton residential village will also enjoy appropriate access to the Hilton College Estate and Nature Reserve, where walking, jogging, cycling or relaxing at the river or dams will fulfil a range of outdoor pursuit ambitions. The Theatre shows, music evenings, Sunday chapel services and sporting events at Hilton College will be on your doorstep.

The plots are predominantly north-facing and almost half of those available in phase one have been purchased. The property owners invested to date include Old Hiltonians who have fallen for the weekend getaway option, retired folk who will be permanent residents, families and parents of boys currently being schooled at Hilton. This mix reflects the diverse lifestyles The Gates at Hilton will support.
If you are looking for a Hilton home within a rural village, laid out to adore the wide open sky and views onto a heavenly slice of KZN, visit The Gates at Hilton.

If you did not go the extra mile and get your Top Gear crazy Dad a ticket for the festival in Durban on Sunday, the least you can do is spoil him with lunch! Lindsay's have a scrumptious menu available;

Starters:
Two biltong and cheese "toasties", served with a baby salad.
OR
Phyllo-wrapped camembert, baked and served with raspberry coulis.

Main Meal:
Slow-roasted lamb shank in a red wine sauce with baby carrots and onions, served on mash with a serving of roasted vegetables.
OR
Deboned and rolled whole chicken, roasted with a traditional stuffing and served with roasted vegetables, creamed spinach and potato wedges.

Desserts:
Belgian chocolate mousse OR Lemon meringue pie OR Cheesecake.

Cost: R150.00 per person

Bookings are now open for two time slots, 11h00 or 13h00, call Mary-Ann on 033 343 4698. When you book kindly state the time you would like make your reservation for.

Three pupils from Laddsworth Primary School in Hilton have been selected to play in KwaZulu-Natal Inland Hockey teams. They are, from left: Julia Jarvel – Girls Under 13A; Carl Hoffman – Boys Under 13B; and Lauren Knobel – Girls Under 13B. They will play in the inter-schools interprovincial tournament in the July holidays, Julia in Cape Town and Lauren and Carl in the Pietermaritzburg area. Carl was injured in a practice and has a broken nose.

News and photo supplied by Laddsworth Primary School.

Capulum College students collected food and money for Free-me, a wildlife rehabilitation center based in Howick. On Thursday 23 May our high schoolers visited the center to hand over their donation and here they were taken on a tour of the facility by Brian. Ros, a Free-me representative gave an insightful talk.

The students were able to view the injured animals, handle (with great care) chicks that were being hand reared and were shown and taught about the organic vegetable garden. It was such a valuable experience, not only from an educational point but also to teach the children the importance of charity and community service. Free-me is close to our heart and we continue to support the wonderful work they do!

News and photos supplied by Capulum College.

Cherri Forsyth is starting a coaching group for women only.  The coaching programme is very interactive, and is not only theory based.  Practical and very effective tools for living a positive, proactive, happy  and fulfilling life, will be covered. It will include the following topics, amongst others:

• What beliefs are paralyzing me? ..and how to get rid of them.
• What are my priorities?... and how to live according to them.
• Do I know what my values are, and am I living my life accordingly?
• Who am I?
• Which area in my life do I want to improve in?
• How communication (including projection) really works.
• How can I take full responsibility for my life?
• Am I  a fully empowered woman?
• Am I setting myself up for success or failure?
• Do I use my time in the most valuable way?
• How to manage conflict.
• Am I  living my life in balance?
• How I can be the “ very best me” that there is!
• What is my Life purpose?

Invest in yourself….give yourself time to ponder really important issues in a structured process.  Learn to live consciously and honourably every day!

Where: at 9 Vlei Rd, Hilton

When: Friday mornings : 8-10am, and possibly an additional group on a week night at 7pm (if there in an interest in an  after hours group). Coaching will take place every 2^nd week ie twice a month.

Cost: R 250 per person per session.

Dates: Starting Friday 26 July 2013, and every two weeks thereafter. (School holidays will be taken into account in setting the dates)

Groups will be no bigger than 15.

You will NOT be expected to share publicly (in the group)- the approach is a very gentle but inspiring one!

If you want to know more about Cherri please visit her website: www.lifevision.co.za

To book your place, please contact Cherri by no later than July 21^st 2013.

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cell: 082 801 8961

Quote HiltonVillage.co.za when you book for yourself and two friends (who pay for their course) and your course will be half-price. Bring three friends (who pay for their course) and the course will be free for YOU!

The current epidemic of obesity is not only worrying from a social and psychological point of view but exceedingly so from a health point of view. The question is what can be done? As someone "unknown" once said: "Luck is not random; it is attracted to those who work hard. Sweat, blood and tears are the ingredients of a champion". Like a rose that is part briar, part immaculate precious bud there are certain non-negotiables when it comes to weight loss and lifestyle related disease prevention – absolutely worth it but does not come without some (e=mc2) energy expenditure.

Yes there are definitely solutions to the great problem and they are indeed "do-able".

The gold standard being: EXERCISE!

Some facts for your perusal:

- DPP/Finish DPP/ Malmo and various other large worldwide studies have proven that exercise can prevent diabetes (Also: the nurses' health study, the Malta study, the Honolulu heart programme the middle aged Finnish men study)
- These same trials have proven that exercise IMPROVES control in already diagnosed diabetics
- The Harvard Study was a 36 year follow-up more than 50 000 alumni that showed a very clear relationship between activity patterns and longevity, death by heart attack, and all of these cause mortality – i.e. in the group that exercised more the poorer outcomes were markedly less

The key though is that you have to DO exercise, physical movement that results in a raised heart rate (increased pulse rate) and sweating. This can be done even if you are disabled in some way, i.e. in a wheelchair for some reason. Trials have been done using a bicycle wheel to do resistance training of the upper body and arms proving the same benefits. So no excuses in other words.

Another common reason not to exercise is the "time" excuse. If one believes the research – you die sooner if you do not exercise – thus you are only fooling yourself if you say you have no time to exercise – your time indeed will run out sooner than your friends who exercise. Once your health deteriorates the time you have on your hands (whilst in hospital or even in ICU) might precipitate a thought or two about time management.

Some people argue that they exercise but still do not lose weight. In studies done using multiple endpoints – like cardiovascular outcomes (heart attacks), Blood pressure, glucose control, waist circumference – even if no weight was lost – all these other outcomes were indeed beneficially influenced in the exercise group. Thus even if you are not necessarily losing weight (as long as you are losing your waist) it is benefitting your health.

Exercise – if you want to lose weight and live longer and healthier it is a non-negotiable.

Medications to lose weight are indeed available. There are formulations that used to be available over the counter that have largely been withdrawn due to safety concerns. Very recently a good weight loss medication has been withdrawn after a study in the USA has had negative outcomes associated with the drug. However, as with any medication, one always has to individualise treatment and make sure there are no medications that you are on that will interact with one another and importantly that you do not have known contra-indications (conditions that cause you to not be able to take a certain medication).

We have a weight loss medication available that can be prescribed if you are seriously overweight – BMI (body mass index) >30 (which is the number used to signify the start of obesity). (However much more importantly (at this point in the article just to clarify) is one's waist circumference). You can check this right now – men should be < 94 cm and women < 80 cm. These measurements are also linked to your race group – so if you are Asian vs. American the target is different. Importantly if your waist circumference is high you are at much greater risk for diabetes and heart disease.

Back to medications that aid weight loss: Duromine (Phentermine) is an appetite suppressant that helps you reduce calorie intake. Other medications that do this are molecules like d-Norpseudoephedrine. It is vitally important to know what you are taking and also to know that there are certain medical conditions that you absolutely should not take any of these medications in conjunction with having.

Mediation should be used short-term for a period of about 3 months in order to "kick-start" the weight loss in obese individuals with the understanding that during this period certain lifestyle changes are instituted that can be maintained: exercise, healthy eating (not dieting), control of other risk factors like blood pressure, cholesterol (medications) and cessation of bad habits like smoking and excessive alcohol intake.

On that note, alcohol has a lot of calories and just cutting down on alcohol consumption can drastically reduce weight. On the positive side, one glass of red wine for women/day and 2 glasses for men/day is proven beneficial in terms of diabetes and heart disease. (This does not mean that if you abstain you have to start using alcohol to be healthy).

Surgery is a new option, especially for morbid obesity (BMI>40), however once again this is relative and waist circumference is a much more sensitive indicator. Bariatric surgery can be done and entails surgery to your stomach (the first part of your intestinal tract into which the food is transported by the oesophagus – it is like a bag where the food undergoes initial digestion and stays a while before being emptied from here into the next part of the bowels) – the stomach in essence is made smaller and thus you are consequently unable to eat large meals and thus you lose weight. There is no doubt that this works. Drawbacks are: costs involved and undergoing surgery with possible complications due to surgery. Benefits are: positive effects on both health and psychologically (due to impressive weight loss and well as waist loss), both measurably in terms of risks as well as the immeasurable entities of psychological well-being.

What is new on the horizon? One of the new diabetes medications: the Incretins, are currently being used to treat diabetes and one of the side-effects is weight loss. There are a few trials currently being conducted using the incretins in Obese patients who are not diabetic in terms of inducing weight loss with positive results. The incretins are actually hormones produced in your own body that aid in glucose-induced insulin secretion, stop one of the hormones that acts against insulin, slows stomach emptying and reduces food intake. The laboratories have found a way to synthesize the incretins and use them as medications with the above effects – very exciting new form of therapy. This could possibly be used in the future to aid weight loss in obese individuals.

Obesity carries a 90 fold relative increased risk of developing diabetes. The knock-on effects of being obese are numerous and linked to much sadness and much morbidity. About a century ago the incidence of morbid obesity was negligible, what has changed? We eat junk (and loads of junk – calorie intake has at least doubled over the last century – we eat too much), we have stopped routine physical activity (transport by car, convenience factors etc.) and replaced it with a lot of slovenly television watching whilst we again eat too much. Simply put we have complicated our lives by being too busy, too stressed and try and stop the gaps with great piles of junk that we can't seem to get enough of.

The cure? Let us return to the life of more than a century ago – simplify your life with lots of deep breathing, smelling the roses, contemplation, normal physical activity and healthy eating. We can continue on the spinning hamster wheel that is ironically a slovenly couch life or we can choose to live balanced lives. It is a choice and no matter where you are on the scale of life (in kilograms or contemplatively) you have the power to choose and there are solutions to the conundrum. The first step is deciding to implement them. I challenge you today to contemplate.

Call to book your appointment with Dr Claudine Lee soon, on +27 (0)33 343 2243.

The final match in the Ladies' singles was played on Thursday afternoon at Hilton Bowling Club. Jean Binnendyk has successfully defended her title, beating Thelma Mylne by a fairly large margin. Well played, Jean, and congratulations to Thelma too, for reaching the final.

Also on Thursday we played for the monthly Lister and Lister prizes. John Arnott, Arthur Daugherty and Margie Seale won vouchers for La Popote restaurant. Thanks to Richard Lister and La Popote.

John Fowler provided packs of sweetcorn as second prizes. These were won by Doug Robertson, John Pluke and Brian Newton. Vince Seale won corn for scoring eight touchers. Well done to all our winners and thanks to John the Farmer.

On Saturday we held the draw of the second "Thelma's Lotto." Winner was Brian Newton.

Tabs-in time will NOT be changing for the winter season. All tabs in by 13:30 please.

The Ladies' nominated pairs competition has been scrapped due to the lack of entrants.

Coming up in June we have the following competitions: Chicken Run on 8th, Jaxx Roll on 19th and on 22nd, Quarry Spar Harry Cooper tournament. Watch the board and get your entries in on time.

Duties: 2 – 8 June: OOD: Ron Buchel. Tabs: Thelma Mylne. Duty team: Bill McQuade.
Teas on 8 June: Thelma and Mike Mylne. Biscuits: On 4 & 6 June. Chris Purchase and Jean Ramsay.

Congratulations to the Hilton boys who have made the various KwaZulu-Natal rugby teams after a series of rigorous trials over the last few weeks. Good luck to the players at the various provincial weeks in the July holiday.

Pic Back ( L-R) Nqobi Maseko, Tristan Blewett
Front (L- R): Matt Dahl, Daniel Loftus, Etienne Marx, Andrew Peverelle

u16 KZN Grant Khomo XV
Matthew Dahl
Daniel Loftus
Etienne Marx
Andrew Peverelle (non-travelling reserve)

u18 KZN Academy XV
Tristan Blewett
Nqobi Maseko

News and photo supplied by Hilton College.