Tag: non-compliance

Employment Equity Act (EEA) Amendment Bill has been approved by the National Council of Provinces and it is waiting for the president’s signature. Once the president has signed this Bill into law, Chapter 2 will immediately be activated as the criteria by which companies will deemed to be compliant.

The question of 'Selective Prosecution' has been asked since 2007 when the South African Revenue Service (SARS) started using lifestyle audits on private individuals. The selection basis, was the means of the individual, in contrast to their standard of living, and was conducted on individuals where there was a suspicion of criminal activity.

Although South Africa faced the peak of its 'Fourth COVID-19 Wave' at the end of 2021, news reports show that the country is firmly heading back to business as usual. Mid-January a Daily Maverick report quoted the health minister, as he confirmed that Gauteng has officially exited the fourth wave, while the rest of the provinces have reached their peak and are now on ‘steady decline’.

Since March 2020, South Africans have had to comply with various COVID-19 restrictions implemented by the government to contain the spread of the virus. To this end, businesses have dealt with limitations on capacity and their operational hours, while patrons must meet face mask and sanitisation requirements.

After much anticipation and a period of almost seven years it has been officially announced that the core sections of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) commenced on 1 July 2020 and on 30 June 2021. These core sections took effect on 1 July 2020 and organisations will be allowed twelve months to 30 June 2021 to become compliant with the Act.

Since the final lockdown regulations were only circulated late afternoon on 25 March 2020, and the registration of companies for essential services was reported to commence on 26 March 2020, the potential for perceived non-compliance with the lockdown regulations does exist as companies may not have sufficient time to comply.

Regulatory reporting has grown in profile over the last number of years, with more budget and more employees dedicated to compliance activities than ever before. Having been involved in the compliance space for more than a decade in some form or another, we have identified key compliance characteristics and trends in the majority of South African (and African) financial institutions.

On 5 November, the JSE Limited (JSE) announced amendments to its Listings Requirements to strengthen the regulation of primary listings and secondary listings. The amendments follow an extensive consultation process with the market and the public that kicked off in September 2018 after the JSE released a consultation paper (Paper) on "possible regulatory responses to recent events surrounding listed issuers and trading in their shares" (click here to read the e-alert on the Paper).

The SAICA Code of Professional Conduct (the Code) has, since 2006, set out certain fundamental principles that members and associates (accountants) should adhere to. The principles are integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour.