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Training in SA Pays For Itself: The Tax Benefits of Accredited Staff Training

By Devan Moonsamy

Whether your company is big or small, it is in line for tax benefits between R40 000 and R120 000 per learner completing an accredited course!

The value in training staff through learnerships, internships and skills programmes accredited companies benefits your company financially in several ways. Well-trained staff are far better equipped to meet client and internal company needs. It also brings about personal growth and social and economic growth and upliftment. However, if you are concerned about the costs involved, both the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) relevant to your industry have structured financial benefits for companies that train their staff through accredited providers.

The Income Tax Act provides employers with a tax allowance when they enter into qualifying registered learnership agreements with their employees to encourage skills development and job creation. The allowance is an incentive paid by SARS to employers that train employees according to the requirements of the relevant SETA. Those in the training field are aware of the desperate need for training in South Africa, and the government is also serious about promoting this. Thus companies are in line for these excellent benefits, but few take advantage of them.

Companies can receive both an annual allowance for each year a learner is under a registered learnership agreement, and a completion allowance as a once-off payment upon the employee’s successful completion of their studies. Curious to know just how much this amounts to? You will be surprised!

For a learner without a disability, the annual tax allowance is between R20 000 and R40 000, depending on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level at which the student is studying. As for the completion allowance, it is the same amount! Thus, a learner registered for and completing a year-long learnership through an accredited training provider can lead to a R40 000 to R80 000 tax benefit for the company in addition to their increased expertise and skills competencies.

Should the learner have a disability, the benefits are more than double!  The annual allowance is R50 000 to R60 000, depending on the NQF level. Again the completion allowance is also R50 000 to R60 000. Employing and training a person with a disability is thus a major advantage to a company. Accredited training leads to a R100 000 to R120 000 tax benefit for a single year-long learnership in these cases.

This means that learnerships end up paying for themselves and cost the company far less than most assume. The main outlay is merely stationery and computer access. Learners do need time to attend training sessions, and possibly a short period of leave to study for their final test, if this is required for their qualification. This small investment will see exponential results, as I have witnessed time and again with our learners at ICHAF. A wonderful example of this is where employees I worked with started out as cleaners and drivers and grew through training into admin and management positions. Employees in such cases feel valued and enjoy their work. They remain engaged in the workplace and loyal to their employer over many years of their career.

Many employers shy away from training as they think it is too costly. They may also think that only large companies that pay the Skills Development Levy are eligible for benefits. This is not true. An employer exempt from the payment of the levy under the Skills Development Levies Act qualifies for a learnership allowance if all other the requirements are met. For example, the training provider must be accredited, and the learner, employer and training provider must together sign a learnership agreement and ensure it is adhered to.

To reap the benefits of staff training that pays for itself, ensure that your company meets the SARS and SETA requirements. Refer to the SARS “Guide on the Tax Incentive for Learnership Agreements” for detailed information. Claims are made using the SARS IT180 IB180 form, “Declaration by employer for the purpose of claiming a deduction for an allowance in respect of a learnership agreement or contract of apprenticeship.”

There are 21 industry-specific SETAs covering everything from agriculture (AGRISETA) to wholesale and retail businesses (W&RSETA). If your company is involved in construction, for example, then you simply need to find out the training requirements of the Construction SETA, which is called CETA. The relevant SETA will provide information on what courses are approved and which companies are accredited to provide them.

One of the most effective introductory courses suitable for most learners is the General Education and Training Certificate in Business Practices (NQF1) administered by the Services SETA. It is a year-long course and, thereafter, the student can progress to more advanced studies and eventually specialise in a certain field. This is but one qualification available from training providers such as ICHAF which is approved for the excellent tax benefits described above.

ICHAF Training honoured by Child and Family Welfare

Devan Moonsamy from the ICHAF Training Institute has been honoured by Verulam Child and Family Welfare charity for his organisation’s ongoing support to the children of South Africa since 2012. Devan’s parents, Mr Mannie and Mrs Lilly Moonsamy, accepted the award on ICHAF’s behalf. Continuous funding to Child Welfare from ICHAF has contributed to poverty alleviation over the past seven years.

Through Verulam Welfare, ICHAF donations are aimed at helping whole families. This helps build a stronger, healthier family unit, which is still the most critical source of care and support for a child. Nevertheless, more than 6.6 million children live in poverty in South Africa and more than 1.8 million of these children live with neither parent. They are thus in very vulnerable situations with little or no proper adult care and supervision. We know the plight of AIDS orphans and child-headed households is a terrible reality in Africa, and it is vital that more companies and donors focus intensely on their needs.

Young children lack the experience and financial access to improve their lives on their own. Yet there are still many left without their basic living and education needs met. All donations should help the most needy, but many remain neglected, especially in rural areas that are hard to access, and where it is difficult for organisations based in cities to spread their reach. Organisations with reach in rural areas are better placed to help these children and donors should focus on these for maximum effect.

ICHAF is combating child welfare problems in a number of ways. Among the costs covered by the donations are food, healthcare and medical expenses, and domestic child and baby care. Financial assistance is made towards children in foster care to ensure their wellbeing in what is still a potentially vulnerable situation. To ensure children living in vulnerable situations receive education access towards their own upliftment in future, school fees and tutoring are also covered.

ICHAF has been the most consistent funder to the Verulam Child Welfare to date, but this remains an uncommon situation. Many donations are made to help children; however, they tend to be once-off, leading to inconsistent access. Thus, some schools in Africa may receive a donation of stationery, for example, but nothing else again for a long time. This may help in one area in the short term, but companies and other donors should shift to long-term funding strategies.

One way to do this is to ensure that specific, identified children in vulnerable situations benefit over the course of their schooling. Donors can focus on a specific area or need, such as children with a disability from low-income homes, and ensure their unique educational needs are met in the long term so that they are equipped by the time they reach adulthood to have greater independence and a source of income. These kinds of interventions are the ones that make a real difference.

Devan says that support for recognised, well-run charities in South Africa is very important and more companies and people should channel support to these organisations which already have effective programmes in place. Interventions are properly managed, and the results are visible. One can also donate time and effort, and second-hand clothes, shoes, stationery, and books will always be welcome.

There has been an outcry over the poor state of education in the country, particularly the low literacy and numeracy levels. We may sit and wonder why the government doesn’t simply improve the curriculum and conduct more teacher training. While this is helping, we should not miss other potent causal factors of the education crisis – which begin in the home and not in the school environment.

Prof. Jace Pillay, a researcher in education and care in childhood at the University of Johannesburg, thus explains that vulnerable children tend to perform poorer than their peers largely due to a lack of facilities and homework support. This contributes in a major way to the education crisis. There is simply no one available to assist these children, and their teachers are overwhelmed with their workload so that they cannot help their learners enough on the individual level. Other adults are needed to fill in the gaps for these children, such as tutors and orphanage workers. Funding should be directed to help with these costs.

Devan is thus urging other companies to get in touch with him or Child Welfare directly so as to discuss new funding or partnership opportunities and so that more awareness can be created about sustainable donating for the improvement of children’s lives in the long term.

Please contact Devan or Verulam Child and Family Welfare using the contact details below. Alternatively, contact a charity in your area, or one which focuses on a specific need you or your company would like to help with.

ICHAF
Tel: 011 262 2461
Cell: 083 303 9159
Email: devan@ichaftraining.co.za
Website: ichaftraining.co.za

Verulam Child and Family Welfare
Address: 5/7 Church Street, Verulam, KZN
Tel: 032 533 1046
Email: info@vcws.co.za

Homeless and Destitute: Cape Winelands Tenants Turned Out onto the Street

By Devan Moonsamy

20 000 People are Affected by the Winelands Tenant Crisis

The Cape Winelands is facing a severe eviction crisis. A few days ago the Supreme Court of Appeal threw out an application from a property developer to allow the removal of two families. This is only a temporary victory as the property developer still has other options. Not all tenants in these circumstances have been even so fortunate.

The May family of 13 people were evicted last week from a wine farm where they had been living for almost 40 years. Their possessions were dumped on the side of the road and they were forced out by armed security guards. About 20 000 people in what many people think are the tranquil surrounds of the Cape Winelands are also facing such prospects. It truly is a crisis.

There are a number of issues and misunderstandings about the tenant-landlord/lady relationship which have contributed to this problem and which require attention:

  1. Tenants often have to pay for background checks to reassure the landholder of their good standing. They also must provide references. But a landlord/lady is not required to do the same. This means that tenants have no such safeguard against a landholder who will not treat them fairly.
  2. There is no reporting and background checking system for landlords/ladies. There is not even an informal system, website, or online forum where tenants can report a problem landlord/lady. Potential tenants should have a way to check reviews by past tenants. If we do this for restaurants and other business, how much more important is it for people who must blindly enter into an agreement with a landlord/lady? It is advisable for communities, locally and nationally, to set up a forum with a rating system. This is not just to identify problem landholders, but to help prospective tenants find one they can trust.
  3. Few people understand what the (poorly termed) ‘squatter’s rights’ are. There is much confusion about how these rights actually work and when they apply. They do not privilege squatters in the way many people believe they do. Squatters do not have a legal right to indefinite occupancy, regardless of how long they have lived in a place. No person has the lawful right to occupy a property against the permission of the owner – unless a court order sanctions it. Essentially, it is up to the court to decide if and how an eviction may proceed.
  4. What squatters do have is the right not to be forcibly removed. This protects occupants’ constitutional right to dignity and to a home. A court will not sanction a landholder taking matters into their own hands and forcibly evicting an occupant, as happened to the May family in the Cape. Occupants and landholders must both be allowed to plead their case in court. Depending on the individual case, the court may grant the eviction with specific terms.
  5. An expired lease does not give the landholder rights to evict the tenant. They also may not lock tenants out, disrupt the supply of electricity or water, among other actions that would affect the tenants’ rights to shelter and amenities. Rent is excessively high in the Cape Town area, which further adds to the problem. Nevertheless, if the tenant has not been paying rent they may be ordered by the court to do so.

In the end, it is up to the court to decide on these matters. Occupants may stay in a home, and landholders may not remove them until the judicial process has run its course. To protect tenants, it is advisable that communities start a forum or website to report problem landholders and to help people find better ones.

NZ Mosque Massacre, Racism, and Prejudice – We Are All Victims, We Are All Guilty

By Devan Moonsamy

Brenton Tarrant attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, just a few days ago, murdering 49 people. He filmed it, he is proud of it, and we know he is a white supremacist from the disturbing manifesto he posted online just before the attack.

Wajahat Ali of the New York Times places the blame for the Christchurch Massacre on non-Muslims’ shoulders. He writes just two days after the attack, ‘All those who have helped to spread the worldwide myth that Muslims are a threat have blood on their hands.’ But does playing the victim in this way help? Both sides – all sides, in fact, because the issues are far from cut and dry – are to blame and not to blame.

People are terrified of terrorism – that is the goal it continues to achieve. People voice concern about it from their point of view, and that is understandable, especially considering that we are all at the mercy of news media reporting and sensationalism. We all fall prey to fake news and shock tactics from time to time. Our humanity demands that we feel angered and condemn the work of such criminals. Stopping ourselves from spreading the kind of ‘myths’ Wajahat Ali warns about it not an easy thing to do when we are confronted by the horrors of terrorism. Awareness of what is happening to us is critical. We have to talk about what we are doing to add to the problem without realising it.

We are easy prey to fear. In South Africa, white people fear-monger among themselves about the threat of genocide. People roll their eyes. Don’t be silly, it will never happen. Yet BLF’s president Andile Mngxitama recently urged supporters to kill white people (and their pets too). This is madness; it is hate speech. So who is justified? How do we simply ignore the BLF’s sinister agenda, and acknowledge the frustration of black people who have long been excluded from the wealth of the nation? We have to respond to both.

Wajahat Ali calls white nationalism ‘white ISIS’. He further says, ‘Thoughts and prayers are not enough. These attacks are the latest manifestation of a growing and globalized ideology of white nationalism that must be addressed at its source — which includes the mainstream politicians and media personalities who nurture, promote and excuse it.’

This is a finger pointed at Trump, among others. From the beginning, Trump wouldn’t reject the many white supremacists who supported his presidential campaign. That is tantamount to agreeing with their agenda. Suspicions about him have proved true, according to proof put forward by Ali. But is this because Trump fears for the safety of the western world, in which he is justified, considering the agenda of some terrorists? Or is he simply a white supremacist? There are no easy answers; it seems both are true.

Considering the broader Muslim community, there are many factors to take into account. To begin with, did you know that Muslim-dominated nations have a significantly lower level of murders compared to non-Muslim populations? And that fewer Muslims in the US believe violence is a solution to any problem compared to other demographic groups?

So why has there been almost 300 Islamist terrorist attacks worldwide over the past four decades (including those in more than 10 different African nations)? The reason is that the attacks are by extremists, and they are not true Muslims. They do not follow the path laid down for them by Mohammed and their forbearers as the way to serve Allah.

Simply put, they are criminals, and we cannot equate them with the rest of the Muslim world. Likewise, we cannot equate Andile Mngxitama with black people in general, nor Brenton Tarrant with white people in general. These people are not the model that the vast majority identify or agree with.

What can we do to resist such people and their evil agenda? Firstly, we have to stand together united as humans, not divided by our demographics. We cannot place blame on an entire group and fear monger about them. Terrorists seek to divide us; they are very good at it. But we must pull together and do more than just ‘thoughts and prayers.’ Secondly, however justified we may feel at the time, we have to stop spreading myths about one another, such as that Muslim people condone terrorism. And finally, we have to use our vote in the upcoming South African election very wisely, refusing to support anyone who uses fear mongering to control and divide us.

Devan Moonsamy is the author of Racism, Classism, Sexism, And The Other ISMs That Divide Us, available from the ICHAF Training Institute.

The book tackles contemporary issues in the South African workplace, including a variety of diversity-related challenges and how these can be addressed. It is an excellent guide for managers to harnessing diversity for success.

ICHAF offers SETA-approved training in business skills, computer use, and soft skills. Devan specialises in conflict and diversity management, and regularly conducts seminars on these issues for corporates. To book a seminar with Devan or for other training courses, please use the contact details below.

Tel: 011 262 2461 | Email: devan@ichaftraining.co.za | Website: ichaftraining.co.za | devan-moonsamy.com

Cross-cultural Competence in South Africa

By Devan Moonsamy

Cross-cultural competence involves the knowledge, skills, and motivation to adapt to diverse interactions. It is a major way in which we can contribute to intercultural cooperation. Some aspects of our behaviour are critical in terms of the values of a culture. However, certain key abilities and attitudes enable us to adapt to any culture effectively.

Cross-cultural competency is among the most important skills for the future workforce, according to the Institute for the Future, a global research body based in California. Tim Rettig, author on interpersonal struggle and success, explains, ‘Research has long shown that diversity of thought increases creativity and, with it, the innovation potential of both teams and corporations.’

In future and now, organisations are compelled to work more with people and partners from faraway places. This does not mean emailing and Skyping with them. No, they are right there in the office with us on a daily basis. Sometimes we are the cultural outsider, and we need to adapt while trying not to be too sensitive to what would be inappropriate back home. We need to be able to explain our views as well, allowing others to understand our needs better.

Benign terms?

Conflict will happen in cross-cultural encounters. In itself, it may not be such a major problem, provided it leads to mutual understanding. As an example of how cross-cultural competency doesn’t happen, consider the following: An overseas client visits the workplace. They know little about SA. In chatting with a company employee, they hear that their accent is distinct, and ask, ‘Are you a Boer?’

The employee is indeed Afrikaans, but they find the term Boer offensive. Some Afrikaans people do not mind the term, but others feel that it has been used in a derogatory way. The employee becomes angry and says, ‘You can’t speak to me like that!’ The visitor is taken aback and feels insulted and confused.

In such a case where the person knows little about our complex history, and even in cases where a South African uses a term such as Boer, is it necessary to become angry and retaliate? The person may think that the term is an acknowledgement of a proud heritage, for example, as in the case of terms such as African American as used by some in the US.

Not everyone knows that the term has become offensive to some Afrikaans people because it has been used in slogans and songs such as ‘Kill the Boer’, as started in 1993 by Peter Mokaba, president of the ANC Youth League at the time. Indeed, if we are not involved in such behaviour and threats, we may not know of their existence.

Terms such as jeez, girly or my girl, monkey, umlungu and Dutchman can be offensive, depending on the circumstances in which they are used. Avoiding the use of slang and colloquial language in the workplace is thus a safe option. We also want to avoid being overly familiar with our colleagues, especially if we don’t know them well. We don’t know how some words can hurt others, even if they have no negative meaning to us.

We should thus show cultural competency by confining our conversation to terms that are neutral and commonly accepted as referring to specific objects and ideas relevant to the working environment. We should avoid ambiguous or potentially controversial topics. It is also advisable to avoid terms which we are not familiar with.

Conflict transformation can still be achieved in problem cases if employees are willing to learn, listen and reconcile. Team members need time to reflect on each other’s’ different points of view, and ultimately find a way to create synergy and a novel solution to a problem.

Ways to achieve cross-cultural competency

Tim Rettig says that problems can be curbed when team members display cross-cultural competency. He suggests a number of ways, and some are stated below.

  • Placing oneself in the position of the other person and striving to see from their perspective.
  • Understanding the different values, beliefs and assumptions of the other side.
  • Listening carefully from a neutral stance with a view to gaining a deep understanding of the person’s culture and personal beliefs.
  • Communicating one’s point of view effectively but kindly to the other side.
  • Working towards integration of the different perspectives in order to create a new solution to the problem.
  • Resolving conflicts in a productive way as opposed to allowing negative emotional reactions to overtake a situation and set a precedent for future interaction.

People behaving strangely

One final word to be said on this topic of cultural understanding comes from psychology. Sometimes people say and do strange or offensive things, and we think, ‘That’s odd,’ or ‘I never expected that from them.’ We may also become angry at them for this.

But at times people are so worried about not doing the wrong thing that they become preoccupied with it. This is often accompanied by intense fear. They keep thinking about this bad thing they shouldn’t do to the point where, especially when they are stressed or on ‘autopilot’ and simply trying to cope in a difficult time, they end up doing the exact thing they didn’t want to.

We jump to take offence, not realising that, for that moment in which they fell short, there were hundreds of other times when they did the right thing and mastered their prejudices and fears.

It is thus important to consider whether a person has shown a pattern of discriminatory behaviour towards other cultures, genders, races etc. Or have they not rather made a mistake which should be forgiven? No one can say they are perfectly unbiased and perfectly behaved. If there is a pattern of behaviour, however, combined with an unapologetic attitude, then the person certainly deserves discipline.

If we are looking at an isolated case, and the person shows genuine remorse, it can be an excellent opportunity to implement conflict transformation and teach cross-cultural competency. We thereby build more closely-knit cooperative teams who better understand one another, have increased respect for one another, and have learnt to weather storms together and come out united.