REBOSA REPORT – 3 April 2017
Property Practitioners Bill
On 31 March 2016 the Minister of Human Settlements, published the Property Practitioners Bill for public comment. The industry have 30 days to submit their commentary i.e. before 30 April 2017. Rebosa will be working with a leading legal firm to interrogate the bill and provide our commentary.
We invite all our members to submit any proposals or recommendations they would like us to include by no later than Monday 17 April, 2016. Please email us on info@rebosa.co.za
The provisions of the “Bill” are significant and far reaching and will have a direct impact on how we operate in future. The existing Estate Agency Affair Act impacted the industry for 40 years. This is serious and we therefore urge you to read the “Bill” which can be found on our website or on http://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/40733_gen246.pdf
Property Sector Charter Code Update
We have been informed by the Property Sector Charter Council that the Amended Property Sector Code has not yet been gazetted. Therefore the current Property Sector Code is still prevailing and we will inform you of any changes.
It has been communicated that “The Property Practitioners Bill will enforce compliance with the Property Sector Charter Code which stipulates transformation targets which property practitioners must comply with.”
Tlakula Sets the Groundwork at New Regulator
Ms Pansy Tlakula, former IEC Chairperson has been appointed as the Information Regulator. The newly established Information Regulator will be responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance and handling complaints related to the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI).
See article below
Racism Hurts Us All
Our industry has recently suffered another blow when a property was advertised “To Let” on Private Property inclusive of the words “Whites Only” and when another agent shared racist and discriminatory remarks on a WhatsApp group.
It is not necessary to get into all the detail again and I attach hereto a press release, issued after the first incident, for your perusal. It was widely reported.
It is impossible to calculate the damage incidents like these do to both our Country and Industry, and moreover at a time when we are the focus point due to our perceived lack of transformation.
We strongly urge you to be cognisant of such behaviour, prevent same and also to be vigilant should you see any other agents erring in this regard. We believe it is our duty to promote fair and equitable industry business practices. Should you encounter racism, unfair business practices or discrimination in any form, we urge you to confront it immediately in your own circle in the interests of everyone. You are also invited to bring these incidents to our attention. All reports will be treated with the strictest confidence.
As an industry we have to take a united stand against the scourge of racism and discrimination and Rebosa will firmly address all issues that are brought to our attention.
If you have not done so already, we urge you to take the Rebosa Equality Pledge which can be accessed on our website www.rebosa.co.za
Rebosa Opposes Racist Ad Article
Professional Designation Exams (PDE)
Dates for 2017 exams are as follows:
| Examination Date | Closing Date for Registration |
| 25 May 2017 | 12 May 2017 |
| 24 August 2017 | 11 August 2017 |
| 16 November 2017 | 03 November 2017 |
| 08 March 2018 | 23 February 2018 |
For further information and exam centres please visit the EAAB website
https://www.eaab.org.za/article/important_announcement_professional_designation_examination_pde_enrolment_is_now_open_for_2017_2018
EAAB Member Queries
Having recently spent two days with EAAB on all our outstanding Member queries, Rebosa are pleased to inform you that the majority of the backlog has been cleared and you will be receiving communication from Fiona during the course of this week.
Going forward, Fiona Chaitowitz will be the only Rebosa liaison and contact point for EAAB queries. All queries can be forwarded to her on admin@rebosa.co.za
We again would like to remind our members, that while we will do everything within our means to resolve your EAAB issues, we do not have access to their IT systems, backend or turnaround times. We continually strive to build our relationship with the EAAB executive and personnel, resulting in us being given the courtesy of addressing our member concerns and queries with them directly during these sessions. To date, our meetings have yielded good results which we are sure many of you can attest to.
SSETA
Rebosa recently spent a day with SSETA discussing our member concerns regarding outstanding NQF 4 / 5 Certification.
We would like all our members who are affected by the dissolution of the iSeleSele Property Academy and Real Estate Business School (REBS) to send their information to info@rebosa.co.za
SSETA have undertaken to assist with exiting those affected learners and transferring them to alternative training providers in the same way we did with DITASA, which has been hugely successful.
Please take note we can only assist where correct information is given to us i.e Full name of Learner, ID number, the name of the training service provider and stating whether you are completing NQF 4 or NQF 5.
Rebosa Membership
This serves as a reminder to please send us the number of FFCs in your office (Principals, Agents and Interns) if you have not done so already, so that we can amend our database and adjust our billing for 2017
Membership Fees for 2017 remain at R20 excluding VAT per FFC per office, monthly.
We thank you for your continued support.
