Dear Colleagues
Following a 12 month lapse, we finally had another Multi-Stakeholder Group meeting last week with the EAAB. At this meeting we were fortunate to meet many of the EAAB Board members and could directly communicate our many concerns to them.
Unfortunately the net result is a mixed bag.
IT Challenges Remain:
We communicated the EAABs system failures in detail and were given the assurance that everything possible is being done to remedy it including a complete independent evaluation of the system. They were confident of improvement but we communicated that our experience so far is to the contrary as many agents have still not received their Fidelity Fund Certificates for 2018.
We are pursuing this vigorously, even to the extent of obtaining legal advice on the matter.
It is Serious – but there is time:
A number of colleagues are still ignoring the CPD deadline – this will be to their detriment. All agents, with the exception of interns, have to register for and complete the first 3-year CPD rolling cycle (2015, 2016 & 2017) which officially ends on 31 December 2017. The EAAB has indicated that they will grant an extension for completion, probably until 30 June 2018. This is fortuitous as we are currently not able to register and complete CPD with ease due to the IT system failures.
However, it must be noted, that this completion date will not be extended again and fairly so. It would not be fair to the thousands of agents who have complied and spent the time and money to complete their CPD while others don’t.
Please keep in mind that those who started their 3-year cycle in 2016 have to comply with CPD year on year and complete their 3-year cycle by December 2018, etc.
The EAAB have undertaken to add more meaningful courses for principals to the curriculum.
Since the inception of CPD, Rebosa has not only worked hard on making e-Learning possible but also to reduce these fees. We were not successful in bringing about a reduction in fees but we were able to ensure they remain unchanged. We can again confirm that there will be no CPD fee increase in 2018 and we will continue in our endeavour to reduce same.
Log Books Go Digital:
The EAAB has indicated that they are moving forward on an implementation plan in this regard. Given the delays and many log books that go missing during the process, this is welcomed by Rebosa and bound to be positive.
The Bill is still not there
The EAAB chairman has indicated that the Property Practitioners Bill will be brought to parliament by the second quarter of 2018. He has also indicated the EAAB’s willingness to co-operate with the Multi-Stakeholder Group to facilitate a discussion on the Bill before it goes to parliament. We are hopeful that this will happen as we have raised serious concerns as to the practicality of many clauses in the Bill as it stands. At this stage we don’t know how our recommendations have been received.
The Illegals:
As we have done so many times in the past, the whole issue of agents operating illegally, including lawyers, was raised again. We await feedback from the EAAB in this regard.
EAAB Queries:
Prior to the MSG meeting Rebosa spent 4 days at the EAAB with department heads trying to resolve members queries. Unfortunately we have not met with much success as the systems were slow and the Finance Department were unable to allocate the backlog of payments so that FFCs can be issued. We will continue following up on all outstanding queries and keep members posted on the results.
2017-18 Discretionary Grants: Call for Applications – Window 3:
The Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Services SETA) are inviting suitable entities to apply for discretionary grant funding. See relevant information below:-
DISCRETIONARY_GRANTS_WORKSHOP_TO_BE_HELD_ON_THE_7_DECEMBER_2017
20171127_SSETA_DG3_Call_for_Applications_v3
In addition, interested parties from Gauteng are invited to a workshop to discuss the application process and the requirements. The invitation is attached for your consideration.
Kind regards
Jan
