Tax - Money that is paid to government for the running of administration and improvements to public roads and buildings, such as state hospitals. There are many different forms of tax including VAT, income tax and capital gains tax.
Taxi recapitalisation - The plan to replace the country's felt of sixteen-seater mini-bus taxis with new, larger vehicles.
Telecommunications - Communication using technology, including telephone, satellite and internet communications.
Temporary disability - An injury or deformity that prevents you from doing certain things for a period of time but which either heals over time or can be repaired.
Tenant - A person who doesn't own a piece of property but rents it from a landlord/lady to use for business, residential or any other purpose.
Tender - An offer to do a piece of work or supply goods or services at a specified price.
Tender committee - A formal committee set up to ensure that official policies and procedures are adhered to when a tender is selected.
Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) - The abortion of a foetus. Terminations are legal in South Africa and are regulated by the Termination of Pregnancy Act.
Tertiary education - Formal education after secondary or high school. It includes university and technikon studies.
Testate succession - Manner in which a person's estate is shared out after their death if there is a legal will.
Third party insurance - Insurance that pays out to a third party (ie. someone not directly involved) who is injured in an accident.
Tirisano - The national education strategy. Tirisano means working together.
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) - The average number of children that a woman gives birth to in her lifetime.
Trade Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) - An international agreement enacted in 1994 to protect intellectual property between signatory countries. It covers copyright, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, industrial designs, geographical indicia and integrated circuit layouts.
Trade agreements - Treaties between countries that encourage and regulate the sale of goods and services between them.
Trade incentives - Government enducements, usually in the form of tax benefits, to encourage trade.
Trademark - Distinguishing marks or characteristics that manufacturers place on their products. Trademarks help consumers recognise particular brands.
No-one may use another person's registered trademark.
Traditional healers - People who use indigenous plant and animal remedies to heal others.
Transkei-Bophuthatswana-Venda-Ciskei (TBVC) - Former "independent homelands" set up by the Nationalist government in South Africa as part of their apartheid policies.
Transparency - A principle of governance that requires officials to act openly. It shows that government officials have nothing to hide and that all decisions and transactions can stand up to public scrutiny.
Transvaal - One of the provinces in South Africa prior to 1994. It incorporated the areas that now form the Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces.
Trauma - Emotional or psychological distress, often resulting from shock or injury or exposure to violence or tragedy.
Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) - Advocacy organisation lobbying for government provision of antiretrovirals to all HIV positive South Africans.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) - This Commission was set up to find out the causes, nature and extent of human rights violations that occurred in South Africa between 1 March 1960 and 6 December 1994, to grant amnest to people who committed violent acts associated with a political objectives, to allow victims of human rights to testify and to write a report publicising the findings and recommendations of the Commission.
Tuberculosis (TB) - A bacterial disease that is highly infectious but which is also curable. It affects the lungs and causes persistent coughing, coughing up of blood, nightsweats, loss of weight, and shortness of breath.
TVET colleges -
Previously known as Futher Education and Technical colleges, these educational institutions offer training for NQF levels 2 to 4 and National Technical Certificates 1 to 3.