Fasset e-Facts

August 2021

FROM THE CEO’S DESK

Throughout the month of August, South Africans are celebrating Women's Month. A tribute to the 20 000+ women who marched to the Union Buildings on the 9th of August 1956 with one goal in mind - equality. These women marched to protest the extension of the Pass Laws to women, and laid the foundation for the advancement of gender equality across the nation.

According to the South African Government, significant progress has been made in empowering women in political, public and educational spheres – but the marginalisation of poor women severely compromises progress. In the finance and accounting sector, strides have been taken to change the sectoral landscape, making way for a more balanced, transformed and educated workforce. Guiding this expedition, Fasset has developed and adapted its skills strategy, with the ultimate goal of upskilling and empowering more women in the sector.

On a sectoral level gender representation appears not to be a challenge in the Fasset sector. The majority of workers in this sector are women and we wish to pay a lot of respect to all these women for their hard work, dedication and passion to shaping this dynamic sector; your contribution, however big and small does not go unnoticed…we salute you!

As we celebrate women's month, we will be hosting the Circle of Influence virtual event on the 25 August 2021, under the theme “Women in finance: Enabling women’s economic empowerment in the financial and accounting services sector”; and we will have a special panel of speakers at this event who will be delivering their memoir of their journeys as business leaders and advocates of transformation in corporate South Africa. Please be on the lookout for the invitation.

Reflecting on the fast-paced month of August, one can't help thinking about the spread of the Coronavirus and what damage it has done to so many lives and businesses in our country. With the country being moved to adjusted level 3; we need to ensure that we respond proportionally to secure lives and livelihoods. I encourage everyone to not be complacent as the third wave is slowly declining; we encourage you to get vaccinated to protect yourselves, you loved ones and fellow colleagues.

We also proudly remember the South African achievements at the 2021 Olympic games which took place in Tokyo over July and August. Congratulations to the two female medallists for their outstanding performance. Salut!

Fasset would like to measure the readership of eFacts; and gauge if the content is valuable to you. Please e-mail us at info@fasset.org.za to send us your suggestions or feedback about the newsletter content. Please note that no personal information will be captured, we will only be monitoring readership.

The year is nearly coming to an end, so are the chilly winter months. We look forward to warmer days as we enter into Sprint next month. To find out about what's happening at Fasset, read below, or visit the website: www.fasset.org.za

We wish you a blissful Women’s month.

Kind Regards

Ayanda Mafuleka CA(SA)

FASSET CEO

Enter the Women’s month challenge and Win!

In the spirit of celebrating Women’s month throughout August; Fasset would like to challenge all women in the sector to “Coach & Mentor” an intern in their workplace. Let’s raise the bar a little to see how well you can multi-task this month, pair up with an intern and send us a story of your mentorship journey, an office or Microsoft Teams coaching session selfie would hold you at good stead of winning. Fasset will select and award 3 inspiring stories; the winners will be announced in the September issue of eFacts. Please e-mail us at Talk2CEO@fasset.org.za and put Women’s month Coach and Mentor challenge as the subject line.

We look forward to hearing your inspirational stories.

Fasset's Discretionary Grants funding window is now open for applications

Please note that the Fasset Discretionary Grants funding window is now open. Please submit your Discretionary Grant application on time to dg@fasset.org.za.

Please note that extensions will not be allowed on this application. Stakeholders are reminded that ALL Discretionary Grants can only be submitted online.

Click here to download the application forms and apply now. For all inquiries please call our call centre at 086 101 000.

New appointees

It gives us great pleasure to announce the appointments of the following internal candidates into their new roles with effect from the 1st August 2021; we wish them all the success in their careers:

Mr. Spencer Nhunzvi

Spencer Nhunzvi has been appointed as the Projects Assistant Manager.

He holds a B.Compt degree and is an Associate General Accountant (AGA SA) that aspires to become Chartered Accountant in the near future. He is an innovative and driven accounting professional with over 10 years’ experience. Spencer thrives to learn new ways of doing things and takes on challenges that are sometimes out of his comfort zone. He has several years’ experience in the SETA space, government departments and in the private sector.

Prior to joining FASSET he worked with Deloitte Consulting (Solugrowth), and equipped himself with various accounting skills, during the years. The skills include financial accounting consulting, preparation of annual financial statements in compliance with IFRS, GAAP and GRAP. He also gained vast experience in Internal and External Audit. Spencer developed good leadership skills, he views all challenges as an opportunity to develop his skills and expertise in the business world, and a sense of self-worthiness.

Ms. Maphuti Setati

Maphuti Setati has been appointed as the Grants Specialist.

She holds a BA degree in Marketing Communications. She has joined Fasset 11 years ago as a receptionist; and has worked her way up as she is a firm believer of starting self-development and continuous professional development. She was then promoted to the Learnerships division within a few months after joining the Seta where she worked as an Administrator until 2014.

She then took up a lateral transfer to the Grants team and strengthened her skills in grants processes until her recent promotion. She still considers herself a continuously learning individual who is always looking forward to new challenges in the sector considering the dynamic changes related to 4thIR.

Lifelong Learning training workshops are going virtual!

Lifelong Learning (LL) refers broadly to the free training offered by Fasset which assists its members in remaining upskilled in a range of subject areas and does not claim or intend to meet the professional body Continuous Professional Development (CPD)/Continuous Professional Education (CPE) requirements. Over the years, LL was delivered across cities and towns in all nine provinces by different appointed service providers. However, in recent years LL did not yield the same results that it had in previous years. This necessitated an adjustment in the approach and delivery of LL.

We are excited to announce that Fasset can now deliver LL training event virtually to your workplace or wherever you are working from. We will be sharing the list of training topics as well the calendar of events soon, please be on the lookout for further updates.

We look forward to hosting you at these seminars where best practice in our sector is shared.

Registering of Learners on learnerships

Employers and/or training providers are urged to make use of the updated Learnership Workplace-based Learning Programme Agreement available on the Fasset website. Please click here to access the agreement when registering learners on learnerships.

The old learnership agreements (dated February 2020 and before) will no longer be considered and will be rejected. All signed Learnership Workplace-based Learning Programme Agreements/Learnership agreements are to be submitted to this e-mail address: learnership.agreements@fasset.org.za with all required documents as below:

Employers are urged not to submit learnership workplace-based programme agreements to Fasset's staff email addresses but to use the designated email address. Herewith is the list of requirements for the registration of the Workplace-based Learning Programme Agreement/Learnership Agreement:

	Document	Document Compulsory
1	A signed and dated copy of employment contract with valid employment dates.	x
2	Proof of learner registration with the relevant professional body e.g. CIMA, SAIPA etc. for professional body registration	x
3	Proof that the employer is accredited by the relevant professional body (copy of letter/certificate) for professional body registration	x
4	Proof that the tuition / training provider is accredited by the relevant professional body or SETA, if applicable (copy of letter/certificate).	x
5	Proof that the workplace provider is accredited by the relevant professional body or SETA (copy of letter/certificate) for cross-sectoral learnership X	x
6	A certified copy of the learners’ identity document or certified copy of Passport (please ensure copy is clear and legible/current).	x
7	Certified copies of highest qualifications	x
8	Learnership and Workplace Based Learning agreement MUST be submitted within 30 working days of all-party signatures	x
	Fasset has 30 working days to register the agreement or 7 working days to reject (if rejection is applicable as per the above requirements)

Learnership agreement submissions for 2021

Employers who wish to submit the Learnership and Workplace-based Learning Programme Agreements can do so on learnership.agreements@fasset.org.za . For learnership queries, please contact Simon Mokete and Lulama Mnisi at simon.mokete@fasset.org.za and lulama.mnisi@fasset.org.za. Please do not submit Learnership agreements to individual email addresses as these will not be attended to, but to the designated email address mentioned above.

Learners/trainees who are completing cross-sectoral learnerships

Employers who are accredited as training providers are urged to submit their completion certificates, verification and/or external moderation reports from their respective Setas to enable them to qualify for funding as per the funding criteria available on our website, please click here to learn more. Fasset also requires the data to update programme completions as well as reporting to the Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology.

Fasset’s accreditation process

Fasset has developed training provider accreditation guidelines to assist providers in completing their application forms; to provide additional information in terms of the accreditation process, and to explain relevant terminology that may require clarification by providers. The diagram below is a summarised process flow to guide providers on steps to take when placing their submissions. Please click here to access the full accreditation guidelines.

Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) Certificates

Please note that ICB is now printing the full qualification certificates on behalf of Fasset. Any new or re-issue requests will be issued by ICB; please direct your requests to support@icb.org.za for further assistance.

Certification

Did you know that Fasset now issues Professional body certificates and statement of results where applicable? Herewith is a list of professional bodies we can issue learner certificates for:
Did you know that Fasset now issues Professional body certificates and statement of results where applicable? Herewith is a list of professional bodies we can issue learner certificates for:

Accounting Technician South Africa (ATSA)
Institute of Internal Auditors South Aafrica (IIASA)
ACFE
South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) - Learnership certificates
Institute of Certified Bookkeepers - Learnership certificates
South African Institute of Tax (SAIT) - Learnership certificates
Debt Recovery - Learnership and qualification certificates)

Other professional body certificates may be issued as per the request of the professional body in question. If you need assistance with any of the professional body certificates, please contact Berlinda Melamane at berlinda.melamane@fasset.org.za .

Verification of Certificates

Employers who would like to verify certificates issued by Fasset, can do so by contacting Khomotso Phetla or Nomadlozi Buthelezi at khomotso.phetla@fasset.org.za or Nomadlozi.buthelezi@fasset.org.za. The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is also available to confirm certificates issued by Fasset at verifications@saqa.org.za .

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Fraud Prevention

Please note that our Tip-offs Hotline has changed. To assist Fasset in giving effect to our Fraud Prevention plan, we encourage all stakeholders to make use of the new Fasset Tip Offs Hotline 0800 472 637 to notify Fasset of any suspected fraudulent activities impacting on Fasset. You can also use the following avenues to submit your report: Email: fasset@tip-offs.com; Free Fax: 0800 00 77 88 or report to the dedicated website at www.tip-offs.com

Fasset Success Stories

We always love to hear back from those who have completed Fasset-funded programmes so that we can share those encouraging stories with our sector. We share these via email as well on our Facebook page. Please write to us and let us celebrate your successes with you!

Getting Started with Fasset

Are you a new Skills Development Facilitator in our sector? Please Click here for a guideline on how to get started with Fasset, and how to take advantage of the Seta’s offerings.

Support to Non-levy payers

Non-levy paying employers can register with Fasset, and enjoy Seta benefits and incentives, such as attending free training events. Click here to download the registration form.

Career Guidance support to stakeholders

To find out how to get Fasset material for your Career Guidance programme, send an email to vusi.mahlangu@fasset.org.za outlining your requirements.

Do we have your correct details?

If any of your particulars have changed, please contact Fasset at 086 101 0001 or via email at fassetcallcentre@fasset.org.za, so that we can update your details on our database. You can also login to verify or update your details.