EDITOR'S NOTE

According to outgoing American president, Barack Obama: "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." What you are reading here is a reflection of Fasset's change in mindset.

In terms of our environmental policy, Facts has moved from paper to screen. It is part of our commitment to putting less pressure on the world’s dwindling precious resources. We also intend to print less course material for our lifelong learning workshops; and make training manuals accessible online for delegates to download. This will also reduce our carbon footprint as we will cut down on the couriering of newsletters and training manuals.

We encourage you to think of ways to contribute to environment protection in your areas of work.

You will have noticed by now our new-look website, which was launched on 13 July 2016. Not only is it more dynamic and attractive than its predecessor, but it presents a clear and easily navigable picture of what Fasset is all about. Many stakeholders have sent us positive feedback on the new look and feel and we thank them for taking the time to give us their opinions.

On the business front, we will host our Annual Genral Meeting and Thank You function on 15 September 2016 at La Toscana in Montecasino; and it promises to provide an exciting glimpse into the many aspects of Fasset’s lasting legacy through judicious investment, meaningful people development and equipping the sector with relevant skills. We invite all our stakeholders and colleagues in the sector to diarise the date and enjoy the morning with us.

Lastly, but very importantly, it’s that time of the year again when we honour women and their contribution to South African corporate life and society as a whole. Read about the status of women in finance and accounting in this issue of Facts.

We hope you enjoy the modern-look Facts and find the information interesting and entertaining. The next issue will pop into your inbox during November 2016.

Zandile Skosana

Marketing and Communications Manager

FROM THE CEO'S DESK

Lasting legacy � two little words that speak volumes in Fasset’s story of sustainability. Our core mandate remains skills development, leading to sustainable employment and prosperity for our beneficiaries and sector. In line with this, our lasting legacy approach has two main pillars, firstly making every workplace a training place through focus on employer roles in skills development and on our partnerships with employers, and, secondly, providing academic support through strengthened ties with further education institutions to produce learners better equipped to enter the economy.

But the lasting legacy concept extends beyond the people whose lives are shaped through the training we facilitate, further than the development of our staff, and over and above the growth through human development of the important economic sector in which we work. It goes to the heart of sustainability in all its forms, the environment included. If the world’s resources continue to be depleted and their importance disregarded, the sustainability of humankind itself hangs in the balance.

Although our SETA and our sector are not that resource intensive, we still have an impact on the world around us and a responsibility to future generations. Small steps are meaningful. For instance, we are working with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants to provide wheelchairs to deserving citizens by the simple act of collecting bottle tops that otherwise would be discarded and end up on already heaving landfills. This may seem insignificant against a backdrop of pressing global environmental issues, but no effort is wasted. Everyone can make a difference, by cutting down on paper usage and electricity consumption and by limiting contributions to carbon emissions through better planning of meetings and travel.

To institutionalise environment responsibility, we introduced the Fasset Environmental Policy last year and updated its implementation plan in 2016. The policy ensures that the SETA conducts business in a responsible, fair and honest manner, in keeping with regulations and codes of practice related to environmental protection. It encourages a culture of recycling, and of responsible management and disposal of waste. The policy aims to make environmental care a way of life as part of the overall Fasset strategy.

I think the words of businessman and philanthropist Jochen Zeist sum up the journey we must all take: “Sustainability is no longer about doing less harm. It's about doing more good.”

We encourage all stakeholders in our sector to ‘think green’ and join us in doing more good by taking the little environmentally responsible actions that will help to safeguard this wonderful planet.

Cheryl James

Chief Executive Officer

SMALL EFFORTS, SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS

In the name of advancement, the human race has taken many steps backwards. Climate change is one very obvious manifestation of ‘development’ and a reflection of mankind’s recklessness. The International Energy Agency (IEA) warns that the world is at a critical juncture in its efforts to combat climate change, making environmental preservation more crucial than ever before.

This presents a tremendous challenge for companies and communities, and Fasset has committed itself to addressing it, through small, but significant steps.

The Fasset Environmental Policy not only ensures adherence to legislation and regulations, but seeks to regulate Fasset’s operational impact on the environment in areas such as energy and water usage, printing and managing and disposing of waste.

Other areas of focus that will ensure continuous improvement include responsible travel and procurement, use of sustainable equipment, raising employee awareness and participation, developing management processes that ensure all environmental factors are considered, efficient communication with employees and stakeholders, and monitoring the usage of office consumables such as paper.

The policy goes further than the office, incorporating green home tips such as using reusable shopping bags, washing laundry in cold water, water and electricity saving measures, responsible travel, choosing reusable containers and products, and sensible pool care and gardening practices.

The policy will be updated annually.

STATS AND SNIPPETS

  • It takes 12 to 24 trees to manufacture one ton of paper, resulting in an average of 18 trees cut down annually for every 10 employees. If all household paper and cardboard was recycled, 750 000 cubic metres of landfill space would be saved a year, local authorities would save R60million a year in collection and landfill costs, and energy saved from paper recycling would be enough to power 512 homes for a year.
  • Each person discards around 200kg of packaging waste a year.
  • For every ton of glass recycled, 1.52 cubic meters of landfill space (the size of an average refrigerator) is saved.
  • For every ton of aluminium cans recycled, 14 000 kWh of energy, 6 295 litres of oil and 14.5265 cubic meters of landfill space is saved (equivalent to the size of a minibus taxi).

Sources

ALUMNI SHARE THE SPIRIT OF UBUNTU WITH FUTURE FINANCIAL LEADERS

Mentoring is a commonly used catchword in corporate circles globally, but in Africa, it is nothing new. It has been practiced, lived and breathed for eons through Ubuntu, meaning ‘humanity to others’. The Ubuntu spirit of ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’ is a call for us to help, guide, motivate and encourage one another, which are the principles of mentorship and coaching.

In a new initiative that is taking advantage of the skills and knowledge of past beneficiaries, Fasset is enlisting its Alumni to mentor and support learners in the sector. Says Marketing and Communications Manager, Zandile Skosana: “We have reached out to previous training recipients to volunteer their time to ‘pay it forward’ to learners in their immediate communities. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.”

The volunteers will present career awareness talks to high-school learners; coach and mentor a student at a University, Technical Vocational Education and Training Institution or University of Technology; deliver Maths and/or Accounting lessons to grades 10 to 12 learners, and share their career development stories, especially in rural areas, where there is a dire need for career awareness information.

The Alumni strategy was developed in line with one of the outcomes in National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) IIl. “Fasset’s approach to this outcome stretches far beyond delivering a printed career guide,” says Zandile. “It is our aim that the Alumni strategy will make Fasset available to ordinary South Africans, through bridging programme beneficiaries bursary holders and past learnership graduates to provide career guidance services to learners.”

A national pilot programme will be run in the 2016/17 financial year that will test the strategy and iron out any wrinkles before the national launch in April 2017. “If we sign up 30 Alumni volunteers in 2016/17, we will achieve 120 interventions,” Zandile continues. “Mentees will benefit from learning and development, and mentors will gain experience in imparting their knowledge.”

These Fasset Career Awareness Volunteers will receive a letter of recommendation from Fasset at the end of the reporting period.

“We are coaching and mentoring the future financial leaders of our nation � and for that reason it is essential that volunteers are 100 percent committed to the programme. This is not a task to be taken lightly, as it involves guiding another’s destiny, but what a rewarding task it can be!” concludes Zandile.

FINANCE BUCKS THE TREND IN GENDER EQUALITY

“Women’s emancipation has not become a reality yet, but there are all sorts of good things that have come to women because of what we started�” These are the words of Sophia Williams de Bruyn, one of more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 to protest the extension of the pass laws to women and the lack of gender equality.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of that historic event, but the day lives on as a reminder of the power of women and a celebration of their contribution to society.

According to the South African Government, significant progress has been made in empowering women in political, public and education spheres. However, the marginalisation of poor women severely compromises progress.

A Cape Talk radio discussion, hosted by Lovelyn Nwadeyi in April, indicated that transformation continues to be a challenge in the workplace and that the percentage of women in senior corporate positions is low. A report by the Commission of Gender Equality on South Africa's immigration statistics reveals that half of the people who leave the country for professional reasons are women.

Cheryl James says a number of factors have contributed to the demographic changes in the financial and accounting services sector over the last 10 years. “In terms of policy interventions, the implementation of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) 55 of 1998 is one of the key milestones in policy interventions that have forced the sector to adopt a new approach,” she says. “The EEA defines the designated groups, or recipients of EE opportunities, as all black employees, women and people with disabilities.”

Fasset’s transformation objectives are being progressively achieved. In 2013, Fasset’s Board approved an African Black-only funding strategy to ensure that the transformation momentum is maintained. To keep up the pace, Fasset has reviewed its strategy and the Board has approved its funding strategy to include Coloured learners in Western Cape and Northern Cape. Fasset will undertake a national roadshow to communicate this strategic shift.

In Fasset’s second year of operation (2001/02), 29% of learners were African Blacks. By the end of the 2014/15 year, the number of learners on learnerships had increased to 72%. The sector now boasts a 41% growth rate of African black professionals in the sector.

The majority of workers in the sector are women. In 2015, the sector employed 80 155 females which equates to 57% of the sector’s workforce, an increase from the 54% of 2001. The number of African Black females increased from 8 550 in 2001 to 31 327 in 2015, compared to 26 548 in 2001 to 29 253 in 2015 for white females.

In 2015, women occupied 40% of managerial positions. Female African Blacks’ share of professional positions in the sector was 9%, Coloureds 4%, Indians 5%, Whites 22% and foreigners 1%. Their share of professional positions was 18%, Coloureds 5%, Indians 6%, Whites 23% and foreigners 1%. More than half (52%) of all professionals were females.

“The demographic profile of women in the profession is fabulous,” says Chantyl Mulder, Executive Director: Nation Building at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). “Of our African members who qualify, 50 percent are female. Some 52 percent of SAICA’s Certificate of Theory in Accounting (CTA) student intake are women.”

To Cheryl’s mind, the key is for women to take charge of their own futures, address their skills gaps and take on the workplace with fiery determination. “The support is there, the glass ceiling has been shattered, and women can and should pursue professional careers � if that is what they desire,” she concludes.

DEMYSTIFYING LEGISLATION

In South Africa, various pieces of legislation guide our daily activities, particularly during the work day. In the finance and accounting services sector, several acts have been promulgated to protect against global downward trends. From the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) to the primary legislation of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the National Credit Act (NCA), legislation abounds to enforce regulations, guide actions, and protect both the sector and those it serves.

In South Africa, various pieces of legislation guide our daily activities, particularly during the work day. In the finance and accounting services sector, several acts have been promulgated to protect against global downward trends. From the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) to the primary legislation of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the National Credit Act (NCA), legislation abounds to enforce regulations, guide actions, and protect both the sector and those it serves.

Fasset itself was born of legislation - the Skills Development Act and the Skills Development Levies Act. As part of its offering, the SETA hosts annual lifelong learning training workshops on compliance with changes in legislation, during which it advises stakeholders about the legislation that affects them and prepares them for imminent legislative updates. “While legislation is essential to the efficient and effective management of the sector, and of the country, it can be confusing,” says Cheryl James. “Regular amendments require full awareness of what is required and professional guidance to maintain compliance.”

Business Tech reports that various tax law changes have or will come into effect this year. These new laws (or amendments to existing laws), will affect retirement policies, and bring about tax and retirement reforms. According to Hanna Barry, expert at a local debt-counselling firm, the amendments to the NCA, which came into effect in March last year, spelt an end to unsecured lending. Between 2014 and 2016 alone, eight pieces of SARS legislation were amended.

This year’s free workshops will be staged from 22 August to 9 September. The course content is designed to suit both Finance and Non-Finance Professionals in the sector and is as follows:
Amendment to existing Acts

Reporting obligations for general businesses, persons, accountable institutions and reportable institutions

  • The impact of the new Financial Intelligence Centre Bill, tabled at the beginning of June 2016, on general businesses, accountable institutions and reportable institutions
  • Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act
  • The Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA), 1998, impacted by the Criminal Matters Amendment Act of 2015
  • Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorists and Related Activities Act (POCDATARA)
  • Latest Financial Intelligence Centre guidance notices

The National Credit Act

  • The National Credit Act, 2005 (Act No 34 of 2005) has been amended by Government Gazette 37386, Notice No R. 144 � effective from 13 March 2015
  • New registration requirements and the impact of these on credit providers and credit consumers
  • How new interest rate caps on credit will these affect the credit industry.

Consumer Protection Act

  • The new Consumer Goods and Services Ombud
  • Registration requirements and fees payable
  • Participant obligations
  • The complaint process available to consumers who are dissatisfied with goods or services received.

Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act

  • Including latest amendments

Protection of Personal Information Act No 4 of 2013

  • Where are we in the process and the way forward
  • Implementation guidelines

Newly released Acts

  • Employment Services Act 4 of 2014

Company secretarial

  • CIPC � ‘Practice guideline on how to report a reportable irregularity to CIPC in terms of . the independent review process
  • Rotation of auditors
  • Disclosure of director’s/prescribed officers’ remuneration
  • Annual returns
  • Non/late submission of annual financial statements
  • Consequences of failure to amend the memorandum of incorporation of a company

Forthcoming attractions

  • The Community Schemes Ombud Services Act
  • Unemployment Insurance Amendment Bill Version B 2015
  • Labour Law Amendment Act: Paternity leave for men
  • King IV report on Corporate Governance

Other important notices

  • More information about the special Voluntary Disclosure Programme on offshore assets and income
  • Estate agents regulations

ACCA LAUNCHES ITS NEW TUTOR EXCELLENCE PROGRAMME

ACCA collaborates with BPP Professional Education on support and training for ACCA tutors. An exclusive online programme for tutors who teach and support ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) students goes live today. Developed by ACCA, in collaboration with BPP Professional Education, and using BPP's online classroom learning environment, this free of charge ACCA Tutor Excellence programme supports tutors so they can help their students' progress through the ACCA qualification.

An exclusive online programme for tutors who teach and support ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) students goes live today. Developed by ACCA, in collaboration with BPP Professional Education, and using BPP’s online classroom learning environment, this free of charge ACCA Tutor Excellence programme supports tutors so they can help their students’ progress through the ACCA qualification.
The programme is accessed through ACCA’s online Education Hub - a secure area that provides ACCA tutors with tools to help them offer the rigorous and high quality tuition demanded by the ACCA Qualification.

“Approximately half of our students study for their ACCA exams with an education provider. This programme gives ACCA tutors around the world � whatever their level of experience in teaching ACCA - access to great tutor training which will help them support their students to become ACCA members.” - Alison McHugh, director of education at ACCA

ACCA already offers face-to-face Train the Trainer events across its markets, but this ground breaking programme means ACCA can reach every tutor, wherever they are, and help them to improve their teaching skills.The programme features more than 20 learning units and three e-assessment checkpoints, covering:

  • Guidance through the learning, revision and final preparation phases
  • The role of the tutor support resources provided by ACCA
  • The differences between academic and professional qualification teaching
  • Learning methodologies, presentation skills and creating a dynamic classroom environment
  • Teaching for computer based exams (including the new F5�F9 CBE)
  • Exam skills, exam focus and question debriefing
  • Supporting students with exemptions, choosing between option exams and their PER

The programme has been developed for ACCA tutors who are new to teaching ACCA and looking to get started, as well as those more experienced ACCA tutors looking to improve their delivery or find new approaches.
Alison McHugh concludes: ‘This is a timely and valuable resource that’s aimed at ACCA tutors working in a professional or an academic environment. It’s innovative approach gives ACCA tutors around the world access to a consistent programme of learning so they can develop their skills, while making sure the students who study with them can reach their ambition to become an ACCA professionally qualified accountant.’

For more information on the above, please contact:
Nomsa Nkomo (Nomsa.Nkomo@accaglobal.com)

Brad Watridge (brad@hotmustard.co.za)
Shelley Lyle (Shelley@hotmustard.co.za)