24574 n/letter loose · learnership certificates of registration have been received from the dol....

August 2001

If you’re an SMME, this one’s for you

On Learnerships

All about Levies

Managing Matters

In Short

Sector Skills Plan

WSP

Happy BirthdayFasset

The real Facts

Spotlight on

Fassetsub-sectors

Inside

First up, greetings to all Fassetstakeholders and welcome to our new-look newsletter. We’ve made somechanges but FACTS remains aquarterly publication and retains itsname, which we think reflects very wellon a number of key characteristics ofthe sector (and, after all, we don’t wantto throw the baby out with thebathwater). However, we have changedour dress code and hope that you’llagree that we’ve given FACTS an up-to-date look to reflect more accuratelyon the brand we are trying to build.Next, our humblest apologies sir/ma’amfor the late publication of this particular

edition of FACTS, but we are hopingthe snowstorm is coming to an endnow and we’ll start digging our wayout of the snowdrift that had piled ontop of us.

Lastly, I’d like to extend an invitation toall readers to provide us with feedbackregarding FACTS. Call us, fax us, sendsnail-mail or e-mail your comments,suggestions and contributions. We’dlove to hear from you.

I’ll be dropping by again mid-November.Until then I’ll leave you with two thingsfor the spirit. The first is a “photo funny”of Cheryl and Stan showing off theircomedic talents. The second is “skilful”words from C.C. Scott:“The Human Spirit is stronger thananything that happens to it.”

Owners of small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs)who feel neglected in terms of skills development-fundingmay soon find their frustration a thing of the past as we makea start towards overcoming the skills and knowledgedeficiencies that currently threaten our industry's growth.

Many SMME owners (comprising 98% of the sector) viewthe Skills Development Levy as a tax rather than as anempowerment tool since they perceive themselves as toosmall to take advantage of it, feeling that the return does notoutweigh the time and cost of filling in the required forms.However, we want to assure you that SMME interventionswill be central to Fasset fulfilling its mandate. Already, adecision has been made that skills development monies thatwere unclaimed from Year One would be rolled over into thisyear and a certain amount of it ring-fenced for SMMEdevelopment, i.e. increasing capability to complete thenecessary steps in order to access levy grants but, moreimportantly, also their willingness to do so.

CPE SUBSIDISATION

Fasset is making more money available to SMMEsthan they are paying in . . . provided they participatein skills development structures. Once WSPs havebeen assessed, we can open windows of fundingwhere SMMEs would access more in terms of

learnership grants and highly subsidised CPE than theyactually paid in skills levies.

In partnership with CIMA, we will be conducting three CPEseminars during the course of the next nine months. Thefirst seminar, which will cover the topic “Capital Gains Tax”,is scheduled to take place in September 2001.

All SMME members of FASSET who have submitted aworkplace skills plan will be able to attend this seminar freeof charge.

Further details will bein the mail and onthe web in duec o u r s e a n dplease also letus have yoursuggestions forappropriate CPEtopics.

All members ofFASSET, whohave submitted aWSP and who sendthei r learners oremployees on CPEcourses, which havebeen recognised andaccredited by their

SETA for Finance, Accounting, Management Consult ing and other Financial Services

2

Editor’s Note

I f y o u ’ r e a n S M M E ,t h i s o n e ’ s f o r y o u

professional body, will be able to claim a grant back fromFASSET.

This grant will be limitedto 75% of the cost of theCPE to a maximumamount of R400 percourse attended. Grantforms are in the processof being developed andwill be made available tomembers via our website.

Participation in the skillsdevelopment initiatives ofFASSET are now startingto bear fruit and weencourage all SMMEmembers to become

involved in the workplace skills planning process as a meansof benefiting from the additional services that we are ableto offer you through your involvement.


FASSET was accredited as an ETQAby SAQA on 8 June 2001. This meanswe are now able to officially launch ourlearnership programmes as we areable to register learnerships and skillsprogrammes. Ten learnerships were

submitted to the Department of Labourin August 2000 and already six officiallearnership certificates of registrationhave been received from the DoL.These are targeted at the formal, publicand SMME sectors and are as follows:

A mailshot regarding pilot learnerships went out early

in July and you should already have received

notification in this regard.All you have to do now is ring our call centre to get involved.

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

0 - 5 employees 5 - 10 employees 11 - 50 employees 51 - 100 employees over 100 employees

TITLE NQF SECTOR TARGET GROUP LEARNERSHIP CODE

1 Chartered Accountant: 7 SMME & Unemployed, 01/Q000001/00/480/7Audit Specialism Formal employed and

pre-employed

2 Chartered Accountant: 7 SMME & Unemployed, 01/Q000002/00/480/7Financial Management Formal employed andSpecialism pre-employed

3 Associate General 6 SMME & Unemployed, 01/Q000003/00/480/7Accountant Formal employed and

pre-employed

4 Accounting Technician/ 5 SMME & Unemployed 01/Q000004/00/480/7SMME Formal youth/disabled

5 National Certificate in 3 SMME & Employed 01/Q000009/00/000/3Business Admin (3) Formal

6 National Certificate in 4 SMME & Employed 01/Q000009/00/000/4Business Admin (4) Formal

3

Fasset's new Management Board was constitutedon 27 June with the nominat ion process being

such that only one nominat ion was receivedp e r s e a t , a n d i t w a s , t h e r e f o r e , n o tnecessary to go to the elect ion phase.

Stan Hutcheson remains in the Chair for anotheryear and we can ’ t thank h im enough fo r thesacr i f ices he is prepared to make on behal f o fFasset (we luv ya, Stan).

Composi t ion of the new Board is as fo l lows:4


We are aware that first and foremost onthe minds of our members is thepayment of grants, or levy refunds asthe layman understands it. The grantsystem is a means of achieving theparticipation of our members in skillsdevelopment activities, rather than anend in itself and we are pleased to reporton the levies refunded to membersduring the first year of operation(Year 1 : 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001).

R9 621 000 was claimed andR3 631 000 paid to more than 331companies, representing 44% of theR21 866 000 that was provided for grantpayments in Year 1. We are focused onensuring this figure will increasesubstantially in the coming years, so letus know how we can help you toparticipate in this process.

What happens to levy payments?

This question is asked of us regularlyand it’s an easy one to answer. Thepayment is allocated as follows:

20% to the National Skills Authority

10% to Fasset for SETA administrationpurposes

70% available for refund to those whopay the levy. This is in turn split asfollows:

15% for submission of WSP (submissiondeadline extended to 30 September2001)

50% for submisson of WSPIG(submission deadline: 31 May 2002)

5% for strategic grant payments(submission deadline: 31 May 2002)

The 5% strategic grant money will bespent as follows :

2,8% Learnerships0,2% Skills programmes2,0% Projects

Levy Refunds

Available Levy RefundsLevies Refunded

Available Levy RefundsLevies Claimed

Managing Matters

8 employer seats 8 employee seats

Large Accounting and Robert Capper (PWC) Professional Bodies Simon BurdettAuditing (ACCA)

Small Accounting and Willie Erasmus Theuns GerberAuditing (Erasmus Rek) (ICSA)

Management Marcus Moses Graham TerryConsulting (Ndawo Consulting) (SAICA)

State Nambita Mekane Charlene Verzmoter(SARS) (IMC)

Development Vusi Mabena (IDC) Trade Unions Witness MagoswaneCorporations (NEHAWU)

Investment Entities Mary-Anne Trollope Sunet Myburgh (PSA)and Trusts (Anglo American)

Securities and Stock Karin van Wyk Zolile NjovaneBrokers (SAIFM) (NEHAWU)

Taxation Services Stan Hutcheson Ashley Ross (PSA)

5


And as the new management board took office, so we badefarewell to the hard-working team from Year 1. A token ofthanks in the form of a branded pen was presented to themembers as a farewell present and initial reports of howthese pens are being put into use assure us they were wellreceived, e.g.:

Vusi Mabena says, after declaring the gift and beingallowed to keep it, he’ll be using his pen when he signs IDCcorporation cheques.

Sam Louis got really creative – she drew a calculator onher daughter’s face for the school’s maths project. Way togo, Sam.

Veld Cooper tells us the first thing he did with his penwas to sign the Fasset project proposal for career guidancefunding.

Vusi Mabena is equal ly happy, but wi l l theIDC al low him to keep i t?

Sam Louis is delighted at receivinga surpr ise thank you gi f t

In Short

6

The Management Consulting sub-sector is involvedin standards generating activities. If you're part of this sub-sector you’re needed. Please phone Charlene Verzmoter(Tel: (012) 483-1500) and get involved. Further details onthe website.

For those of you who are contactable by e-mail,we’ve launched a monthly e-zine titled e-Facts. It’ll alert youto developments at Fasset, within the sector and generallyregarding skills development, on a regular basis. If you’reon the mailing list you will have received the first one already.If you haven’t and want to be included, simply e-mail yourdetails to [email protected] and title the message“Send e-Facts please”.

We welcome two ladies to the team at Fasset:

• Mimi Moselane joined us in June and will be working in

the Skills Planning Department as Assistant toLauren Derman.

• Natalie Zimmelman is our Policy & Projects Manager,joining us on 1 September.

May your stay with us be a long and rewarding one.

Saturday, 12 May was a fresh winter’s evening, butthe crowd that gathered for the Department of Education’sglittering annual awards evening were kept warm by theenthusiastic entertainment, and gleeful acceptance antics ofthe award winners as well as the lavish buffet. Fasset joinedthe throng to meet and greet and valuable informationregarding award winning projects which may be pertinent toour sector was gleened. Here are some of the Fassetrepresentatives braving the bracing midnight chill.


Jul iet Gi l l ies, Tarnya Br ink, Cheryl James,Sam Louis, Wayne Louis

On the subject of Fidelity Insurance, in line with Fasset’sprocurement policies and with EXCOs ratification of thedecision, FASSET has engaged the services of Marsh forour risk cover insurance. FASSET and DTSS have takenout a joint policy in order to ensure a seamless system forany possible claims (R20m cover).

R150 000 per Learnership has been made available toFASSET by the DoL through the European Union. Fundingwill be released in three stages, i.e.:

40% registration40% linking learnership with unit standards20% when learners registered

Our very first AGM, held at the Johannesburg CountryClub on 27 June 2001 to sign off financial statements andhand over to the new Board, was a rousing success.

We thank all those stakeholders who found the time to joinus and hope you enjoy your stressball gifts - one of theelements of the new corporate image which we launched atthis event.

Our national roadshow at end May/early June drewalmost 300 attendees and proved to be a most valuableexercise for members, bringing them up to speed onall developments at Fasset during the past 6 months,and going through the process of WSP preparation indetail. We know this helped many of you to completethose forms which entitles you to a refund on the skillsdevelopment levy you are paying. We look forward to seeingmany more of you at our roadshows in the future (Gautengmembers, don’t worry, we’ll be splitting Johannesburg andPretoria and seating will be schoolroom, not cinema style,so there’ll be no more snuggling up to your neighbours).

7


Will ie Erasmus, Danie van Niekerkand Schalk van Eeden learn aboutLearnerships

Natercia Faustino, Lesley Witt andGraham Terry at the AGM

In a formal feedback session on 17 May2001 the Department of Labour advisedthat our Revised SSP, submitted inMarch 2001, had been accepted withno major revisions until 2004. Althoughmuch encouraged by this feedback,we are not going to halt the SSPdevelopment process. There is stillmuch work to be done to ensure that itremains a living document thatrepresents the direction of thestakeholders within FASSET's sector.

To ensure this process occurs FASSETurges its members to submit commentsand suggestions to the revised SSP(find it on the website). All suggestionsand data will be welcomed.

We have planned interventions aroundrevising, updating and improving the

SSP to ensure that it becomes aninternal document with great value toour strategic planning processes. Thisresearch will hopefully assist us in thefilling of gaps in the SSP around sectorinitiatives.

We are planning major interventions toresearch the following in the sector:• Employers

• Professional Bodies

• Education and Training Providers

• Learners

• Labour Market Demand andSupply Analysis

• En te rp r i se -based Peop leDevelopment Standards

• HIV/AIDS

• Unit Standards development

Should you have any questions,suggestions, research ideas orinformation we may be interested in,please contact Lauren Derman.

The deadline for organizations to submittheir Year 2 Workplace Skills Plan(WSP), which covers the period 1 April2001 to 31 March 2002, has beenextended and you should already havereceived our little ruler mail-shot on this.

Documentation is available fordownloading on the website and pleasering our call centre (086 101 0001) ifyou need assistance with preparingyour WSP.

This document is essential for a numberof reasons, e.g.:

1) Submission of a WSP, which is yourorganisation’s planned training for theperiod, will allow you to claim a refund

of 15% of the skills development levyyou pay during the year

2) WSP submission leads toWSPIG submission. The WSPIG( W o r k p l a c e S k i l l s P l a nImplementation Grant) is the

annual end of year report on howyour organization has performed

relative to the trainingplan submitted andentitles you to claim arefund of a further50% of the skillsdevelopment levy youpay during the year.The WSPIG is onlydue in May 2002 andf u r t h e r d e t a i l sregarding this will beprovided in duecourse – in themeantime put it inyour diary

3) These documentsform the basis of theresearch we do into oursector’s needs and wecan on ly base ourinterventions on the information wereceive. If this is skewed because oflow participation it may very well resultin skills development initiatives that arenot on target.

So there you have it in a nutshell.

We need you to participate in order thatwe can make a difference to skillsdevelopment in our sector. So let’s getplanning.


8

Time for WorkplaceSkil ls Planning (WSP)

Sector Skil ls Plan

A breakfast function on 11 May to celebrate Fasset’s firstbirthday proved a welcome break from the usual “to business”get-togethers of the Board and Committees. Held at theBryanston Country Club (a delightful venue – thanks TonySwan), Fasset’s hard-working Board and Committee memberswere treated to a welcome and well-deserved informalbreakfast.

Cheryl reminisced briefly about 1 May 2000, the day sheofficially walked into Fasset’s offices (well actually SARSoffices in Randburg) to get Fasset off the ground. She camewell prepared with one pen, one pencil, two cast-off desksand two boxes of computer equipment.

Special mention was made of the extraordinary contributionof our chairman, Stan (Stan, Stan, he’s our man) Hutcheson,who has spent more working hours at Fasset or on Fassetbusiness over the last year than he has at his day job, andwe are all hugely indebted to him for this.

Cheryl took a brief look into the future as well, advising thatFasset has established itself (we have our own pens, pencilsand desks now) and processes and systems are in place.The task ahead is to now make a difference to the skills inthe industry and she committed herself and the rest of themanagement team to working with the Board, Committeemembers and other stakeholders in order to bring about asignificant difference.

Stan, in his typical charming style, entertained the “old”faces and the “new” ones (those who hadn’t yet beenworn down by the enormous effort demanded byFasset) for a few minutes. He reflected briefly on theearly days of steering committee meetings held atAnglo American and the tumultuous time the Boardhas been through during the last year with Boardmembers acting as filing clerks, delivery men, call centreagents and furniture removal men.

“Now it is time for the Board to take on its actual role, thatof providing strategic guidance and advice to Fasset”, Stansaid, adding that he was looking forward to the challengesahead, mentioning the need for Fasset to now get “out there”,focus on members and pay as much as possible in terms ofgrants as we could (the benchmark being the R1m paid outin Year 1).

“Lastly, we will need to identify what we can do with theunspent funds in the next year, and it is becoming apparentthat this is a task that is easier said than done. Fasset willnow be involved in the real business of SETAs, i.e.Learnerships and ETQS and attending to the needs of thelearners out there.”

And, under Stan and the rest of the Board’s expert guidinghands, this is exactly what we’re doing.

Happy Birthday TO FASSET

9


Vinnette El l iot , Gugu Moetanalo andJul iet Gi l l ies enjoying the bir thdayfest iv i t ies

Cheryl James and Stan Hutcheson dothe honours wi th our f i rst b i r thday

cake

When last did you visit the website? It’sa hub of activity these days, drawingincreasing numbers of visitors and we’reupdating almost daily now as the workat Fasset gains momentum.

When you next surf by be sure to logyour details into our monthly lucky drawwhere you stand a chance to win oneof the smartest beach umbrellas you’llsee on the sand this Christmas.

The lucky winners of our beachumbrellas to date are :

June - Vanessa Pauw ([email protected])July - Nkululeko Forman Mtselu ([email protected])

Congratulations to both of you. Yourprizes will be with you in time for useon the beach during the Christmas break

– won’t you be the envy of the beachbabes!

The call centre is also hard at work –and we want to keep it that way – soring them up today with any query youhave regarding Fasset, the sector, skillsplanning and/or development, WSPs,etc.

The Real Facts

Mail in Mail out Calls in Calls out Total

Total Number of Visitors

Total Number of Visits0

1 000

2 000

3 000

4 000

5 000

6 000

7 000

8 000

9 000

10 000

Jan 2001 Feb 2001 March 2001 April 2001 May 2001 June 2001

10

Hits to www.fasset.org.za:


086 101 0001 activity:

0

500

1 000

1 500

2 000

2 500

3 000

April 2001

May 2001

June 2001

Spotlight On


11

All future editions of FACTS will focus the spotlight on one of the Fassetstaff members. First on stage is Cheryl James, our CEO.

Cheryl is well known in the sector, having first earned herself a B Com,H DipED(PG), B Ed, CFA (SA), she then spent 11 years with CFA (Educationand Training Director), leaving them in 2000 to start Fasset from scratch.And scratch around she did – but we’re sure you’ve all heard the story.

Cheryl is eminently qualified and competent to run Fasset, having spentmost of her time since 1993 on researching, developing and implementingcompetency based education and training programmes which resulted inthe introduction of the CBET programme in 1996 and the CFA Top-up unitsin 2000.

Cheryl keeps fit by playing squash regularly and spends as much of her freetime as possible in the bush, where she believes her spirit is rejuvenated.

Fasset Sub-sectors

If you have a question regarding workplace skills plans, participation indevelopment, registering as a workplace training provider or any other queryon any aspect of skills - try our website which is being updated weekly nowand is a mine of information. Or ring our friendly call-centre operators - these‘know-it-alls’ are ready and waiting to be of assistance.

www.fasset.org.za

086 101 0001

You can find us at: Block A, Room 306, Third Floor, Eva Office Park, cnr DF Malan & Judges Avenue, Blackheath.

PO Box 6801, Cresta, 2118. Tel: (011) 476-8570 Fax: (011) 476-5756 Email: [email protected] Web: www.fasset.org.za Call Centre: 086 101 0001

We continue translating gobble-de-gook for you:

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

ILO International Labour Organization

NBI National Business Initiative

NSA National Skills Authority

NSD National Skills Development

NSDS National Skills Development Strategy

NSF National Skills Fund

C2005 Curriculum 2005

Dentist: " You need a bridge."Patient: " How much will it cost?"Dentist: " R20 000."Patient: " What does it come with? A toll-booth?"

Smile a while

Acronyms

24574 n/letter loose · learnership certificates of registration have been received from the dol....

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