Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, Chairperson NPPC
Chairperson’s Welcome
Dear Members, Stakeholders, Practitioners and Industry Affiliates,
The last month was anything but dull with the 2023 SONA and budget speeches taking place, the announcement of SA’s grey-listing and of course the tax year-end, all while load-shedding continued to dominate our (candle-lit) dinner table conversations and we begrudgingly adjusted to our new normal of 8 hours of black-outs a day.
As the winter months creep in, the recent announcement of the solar PV tax relief for households will undoubtedly make ‘going off grid’ a more attractive option for homeowners. However, this unfortunately does not provide much relief for commercial / retail property owners and will require innovative thinking and significant capital investment to secure ongoing operations of many businesses.
Closer to home, the NPPC bade farewell to our CEO, Mr Joseph Sakoneka, who led the organisation from September 2021 and will now be re-joining the PPRA as the newly appointed Property Sector Transformation Manager. The industry congratulates Mr Sakoneka on his appointment and wishes him all the best in his new journey.
Transformation remains a challenge for our industry and while the change is slow and incremental, it is encouraging to see that there are many who remain committed to realising this goal. The Property Sector Transformation Fund has a critical role to play in being a catalyst for change across all sub-sectors and for change to be meaningful, it will require a coordinated effort by all tiers of the sector.
This month, we will be resuming our roadshow of meeting with all of our industry stakeholders as we continue on our mission: to unite and strengthen the collective voice of the property sector. We are also looking to bolster our internal operations over the next couple months so that we can continue to serve our members and the property industry at large.
The NAR Seminars
The NPPC were pleased to participate in the recent NAR conference (American National Association of Realtors), in partnership with Rebosa and Nedbank. The events in Johannesburg and Cape Town were at capacity and provided key insights, not just from abroad, but from sessions hosted by the NPPC and PPRA as well.
During the seminars Rebosa also announced that the first cohort of RBL entrepreneurs have completed the theoretical component of the course and will soon graduate. We extend our congratulations to these stellar students and wish them every success as they put their newfound knowledge to work within the industry.
Expropriation Bill
REMINDER: The final round for public inputs on the Expropriation Bill is today – Monday, the 6th of March. With the assistance of the NPPC advocacy committee, SSSLR attorneys and Du Preez & Associates Attorneys represented by Cari du Preez, The NPPC has prepared input and will be submitting to the relevant parliamentary committee. We thank all who participated in this process.
The PPRA Research Conference
During the recent NAR seminar series, Mr Steven Ngubeni, Chairperson of the PPRA made an enlightening address in which he laid out several clear goals of the organisation, a primary one he explained as, “It is our express intention that to ensure that the anatomy of property practice in South Africa reflects the demographics of a democratic South Africa”.
During the first week of March the PPRA announced the launch of the Property Sector Research Centre (PSRC) at its first conference in partnership with the National Research Foundation (NRF).
The conference was opened by Dr Sepo Hachigonta, Director: Strategic Partnerships at the NRF, followed by Ms Thato Ramaili the recently appointed Acting Chief Executive at the PPRA. Hosted on Wednesday, the first of March at the NRF offices in Pretoria, Ms Ramaili announced the launch of the PSRC, and outlined the state of the property sector.
The programme:
- The role of research and innovation in advancing the property sector – by Prof Jeffrey Macachi, Head of School: Civil Engineering & The Built Environment, University of Johannesburg.
- The PPA towards economic growth, development, consumer protection and regulation in the sector – by Dr Jan Tladi, Technical Lead Analyst at the PPRA.
- The importance of transformation and inclusivity – understanding transformation of the property sector – by Ms Portia Tau Sekati, CEO of the Property Charter Council.
- The foundation of organisational learning – by Ms Pam Snyman, Chairperson of the PPRA Board and Committee: Education, Professionalisation & Continuous Professional Development.
- Valuations and market intelligence – by Ms Esteani Marx, Head of Real Estate at Lightstone.
- An overview of real estate and Chamber related services – by Mr Thembinkosi Mosia, Chamber Manager: Real Estate and Related Services Chamber, Services SETA.
A Cautionary Tale About Sending Unprotected Statements Via Email
Cari du Preez explores the case of Hawarden v Edward Nathan Sonnenberg (ENS) on behalf of VOASA:
The recent case of Hawarden v Edward Nathan Sonnenberg (ENS) dealt with a firm of attorneys who sent unprotected statements via email. Hayward purchased a property and ENS was appointed as conveyancing attorneys and sent the request for payment with their bank details to Hayward via unprotected email. The email was intercepted (on the client’s side) and the bank details changed, resulting in Hayward paying R5,5mil into a hacker’s bank account. The Attorneys obviously denied wrongdoing and the matter proceeded to court with Hayward claiming damages. The court held that the firm owed the client a duty of care and should have been aware of the risk of interception and should therefore have implemented appropriate safeguards, especially since solutions are readily available. The judge ruled that the firm therefore acted negligently and ordered ENS to pay R5,5 to Hayward and to cover her legal costs.
The relationship between statute and case law in South Africa is that of interpretation and application. Statues or Acts are designed by the legislature and gives us the set of rules, regulation and procedures that must be followed. Case law, on the other hand, refers to the body of legal principles and precedents established by the decisions of judges in the course of deciding cases. These decisions are used to interpret and apply the legislation to specific factual situations.
This judgment is of relevance to property practitioners, firstly, from a risk perspective to those who share banking details via unprotected email and secondly, because it gives interpretation to the Protection of Personal Information Act. Principle 7 deals with security safeguards and provides that the responsible party must ensure that the integrity of personal information in its control is secured through technical and organisational measures. This includes e-mail security and security on laptops, endpoints, servers and mobile devices, to control access to information and prevent data loss.
The full judgment can be found here.
Member Activities in March and April
Upcoming Training at IEASA
7 March – PAIA & POPIA in 2023 Step-by-Step (Webinar)
8 March – NQF 5 Full Qualification (Online)
9 March – NQF 4 RPL (Online)
10 March – 12-Step Intern Logbook Program (Webinar)
14 March – Residential Rental Bootcamp (Online)
14 March – Audits & Trust Accounts (Webinar)
15 March – Updated FICA (Webinar)
15 March – NQF 4 RPL (Online)
22 March – NQF 5 RPL (Online)
28 March – Rentals with Cilna Steyn (Webinar)
28 March – NQF 4 RPL (Online)
29 March – NQF 4 Full Qualification (Online)
Visit the website for more information.
The SAIBPP Ball
The SAIBPP presents the President’s Fundraising and Networking Masquerade Ball.
5 April 2023
Houghton Hotel, Johannesburg
19:00 – 22:00
Click to book your tickets.
