AFFIDAVIT = BEE CERTIFICATE WHEN TURNOVER DOES NOT EXCEED R 2,5 MILLION PER ANNUM
Please be advised that it is stated in Section 8.6 of the Property Sector Code that:
An EXEMPTED MICRO ENTERPRISE (“EME”) is only required to obtain a sworn affidavit or certificate from the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) on an annual basis confirming the following:-
8.6.1 Annual turnover based on the EME threshold table
8.6.2 Level of black ownership
We have tested this and it appears that CIPC does not issue such affidavits or certificates.
We have been in touch with Ms Portia Tau-Sekati of the Property Sector Charter Council who confirmed that despite Clause 8.6, EME’s only need to obtain an affidavit as per the template below.
Please remember that you don’t have to send the affidavit anywhere. You just need to complete the affidavit and have it certified by a Commissioner of Oaths and then have your compliance officer file it. You will only need to present it should you be requested to provide your BEE Certificate. i.e. This affidavit suffices as a BEE certificate in the absence thereof, obviously only if your turnover is below R2,500,000. Like a BEE Certificate, the affidavit is valid for one year from date it was certified irrespective of change of turnover.
FIC FIC FIC!
The EAAB has committed once again to supply training in respect of the FIC amendment Act and to include this in CPD courses as soon as possible. Please remember that the Act is currently in place and should be complied with. We are only waiting for the EAAB to announce a date by which compliance will be compulsory. The onus remains on agencies to start implementing this as soon as possible and to avail themselves as soon as the training becomes available. There is no time to waste. We are trying to ensure that the EAAB does not announce a compliance date before adequate training has been made available to all.
PROPERTY PRACTITIONERS BILL
The Property Practitioners Bill is moving forward and there seems to be serious intention on Government’s side to keep the momentum going. However, we remain certain that finality will not be reached that quickly.
On Tuesday 4 September, 2018 Rebosa have been invited to make a verbal presentation before the Parliamentary Committee on Human Settlements on our commentary and concerns i.r.o. the Bill.
We will keep you informed.
THE RESPONSIBILITY AND SUPERVISION OF INTERN ESTATE AGENTS
Following queries we’ve received on how intern agents may or not act in terms of the current regulation, and more specifically, the supervision required from a full status estate agent or principal, we have received the following directive from Clive Ashpol – Education and Training Department, EAAB.
He clarifies any misconceptions in respect of the supervision of intern estate agents and offers very progressive solutions for today.
“Regulation 2 of the Standard of Training of Estate Agents Regulations, 2008, simply provides that an intern estate agent must serve “under the supervision” of a principal or mentor estate agent without elaborating further on precisely what this concept implies. This lack of clarification should be distinguished from regulation 2(5)(c) which specifically provides that an intern estate agent may not complete or draft any documentation “otherwise than in the presence” of a principal or other mentor estate agent who must certify “on the documentation in question that the said documentation has been completed in his or her presence”. It is apparent, therefore, that the principal or other mentor estate agent need only be physically present when it comes to the completion or drafting of documentation.
In the modern electronic age the supervision by a principal or mentor estate agent of an intern estate agent can take place through numerous alternative ways such as, for example, by way of continuous cellular telephone contact, using e-mails, sending SMSs, Skyping, WhatsApp, and other similar applications, and so forth. I believe that, for so long as the principal or mentor estate agent uses any one or more of these readily available methods of maintaining contact with the intern estate, the supervision requirement of the Education Regulations is satisfied. Supervision of an intern estate agent, in essence, can take place without the need for the principal or mentor estate agent to at all times be physically present with the intern estate agent. An intern estate agent can, similarly, easily contact a principal or mentor estate agent to obtain inputs, advice and assistance as and when needed this obviating the need for the principal or mentor estate agent to be physically present.
Save, therefore, where the Education Regulations unequivocally stipulate that the presence of the principal or mentor estate agent is necessary, that is, where the completion or drafting of documentation is concerned, there can be no doubt that adequate supervision may be exercised, within the purview of regulation 2(5)(c), without the necessity for the principal or mentor estate agent to be physically present with the intern estate agent”.
Clive Ashpol
Education and Training Department
ESTATE AGENCY AFFAIRS BOARD
BEE COMPLIANCE – To BEE or not: No longer a question
Further to the roadshows we held recently, please find below, the first in a series of articles written by Adrian Frewen, Associate at Phatsoane Henney Group of attorneys on BEE compliance.
