Andrew Stegmann

10 Million Smart IDs Issued to SA Citizens in Past Five Years

A total of 10 million smart ID cards have been issued to South African citizens in the past five years, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gibaba said on Wednesday.

“When the first card was issued, in 2013, around 38 million people had green-barcoded IDs. I am pleased to announce, we now have issued 10 million smart cards. This, in spite of challenges in infrastructure, systems and staffing,” Gigaba said in a media briefing ahead of tabling his budget vote in Parliament.

The 10 millionth recipient of the ID smart card, Nomthandazo Maweni, was present in Parliament where a ceremonial handover of her new identity card was done.

Gigaba said while the department had come a long way, it would probably have to revise its target of totally eradicating the bar-coded IDs in the next five years.

“Of course, if you look at where we started in 2013, we have been picking up momentum but it is likely that we would not have reached 38 million conversions by 2023,” he said.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: Chantall Presence via IOL [1]. Image sources: [1].

Andrew Stegmann

Kenya: All Work Permits Must Be Verified Before 21 July 2018

Every foreign national in Kenya who is the holder of a work permit is required to visit the Immigration Department to have their documents verified between 21st May 2018 and 21st July 2018.

The holders should physically present themselves at the Immigration Department since biometric data collection is part of the process. After the verification process, e-permits will be introduced.

The following original documents must be presented:

  • Work permit
  • Valid official endorsement on passport
  • Valid alien card
  • Official payment receipt
  • KRA pin

Employers should ensure that their foreign national employees attend the Immigration Department with the required documents by 21st July 2018.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Source: [1]. Image source: [1].

Andrew Stegmann
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How We Have Adapted to GDPR

With the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation laws now in place, we thought we’d share what we’ve done over the past while in order to ensure we are compliant as a South African business. Much of what the GDPR has identified in terms of Data Protection were things that, over the past 25 years, we have already implemented, to ensure that we are a quality provider. Nonetheless, our Compliance Committee took the opportunity to review the requirements and ensure that we continue to meet global compliance requirements. Some of the areas we have worked on are:

  • Divisional Data Audits have taken place, providing us with an overview of how each business sector handles their data.
  • Our Data Protection Policy, that governs data protection for the entire business, was reviewed to ensure its compliance with GDPR requirements.
  • GDPR training systems have been implemented, containing guidelines to comply with the new regulations. The training can be updated as needed.
  • A revised Data Privacy Policy has been added to our website.
  • Our email disclaimers have been amended.
  • We have taken the step of introducing a few new processes in terms of authorizing our Ground Consultants to deliver services, as well as closing off files, to ensure higher levels of data protection.
  • Our IT systems have been reviewed to ensure all data is secure while in transit, and when stored.

Going forward, we will be actively monitoring the legislation’s roll-out, to keep ahead of any possible changes. If you would like more information about our GDPR compliance, feel free to reach out to us. We implore all businesses, even those based outside the EU, to ensure that they have strict data protection policies in place – even those that extend further than the new GDPR requirements. The protection of personal information is becoming increasingly important in a time when more information can be sourced and disseminated online.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1]. Image sources: rawpixel on Unsplash [1].

Andrew Stegmann
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Our Key Takeaways From EuRA’s 2018 Conference in Croatia

Last month, we attended EuRA’s 2018 Conference in Dubrovnik, and beyond having a great opportunity to connect with those in the industry, we attended a number of talks and workshops. Below, we have summarized our key takeaways.

Eura Conference – Croatia 2018 – by René Stegmann

Attending the EuRA conference in such a picturesque location, with the sunshine all day everyday, made for a pleasant business experience. On our way to Dubrovnik, Croatia, we managed a slight detour to experience some culture and wine in Kotor, Montenegro. Learning some of the history and meeting the locals, sampling their food and wine all made for a good start to the conference. We were guided by a local guide to get the full picture of their more recent history.

The conference venue was a resort outside Dubrovnik itself. We arrived early to represent Relocation Africa at the TIRA Day, which was an opportunity for all the TIRA members to benchmark, share knowledge, and ensure we are leaders of best practices in our businesses. It was a great day, and ended with a beautiful boat trip and dinner in Dubrovnik itself.


The next day was filled with Supplier – or as I prefer to refer to them, partner – meetings of which there were many, all with their unique delivery of sharing what each of their businesses are seeing as trends, and how their businesses are adapting.
There are a number of trends which are similar across all partners, and generally in certain locations, volumes are lower, however, in other locations, volumes are good. There seems to be a fair amount of consolidation in the industry as Lexicon has acquired Sterling, Weichert has acquired The MI Group, Madison Dearborn Partners has acquired Sirva, and K2 Mobility has acquired Harbour HR.

There were big talks on GDPR and the impact on our businesses, with the new regulations having just been implemented as at 25th May 2018. As a South African/African business that operates Globally, it is important to ensure we are compliant, in order not to contravene the new legislation.

It seems the discussion between the DSPs (Destination Services Providers) and the RMCs (Relocation Management Companies) has been managed in a palatable fashion. However, there was a feeling that some of the questions were not answered fully. I am sure this will be taken up by those that need to, as it is an opportunity to raise concerns, however, the view is that you don’t want to be offering opinions that will possibly impact your business – even if it is for the improvement of the industry as a whole. During this session, questions were also asked as to why RMCs are now requesting commission from their partners, as traditionally RMCs request a management fee from their clients to cover these fees. There was a feeling that, should these be disclosed and as a DSP we are able to account for them in our fees, it would be appropriate. But note that this is a deviation from the norm of business over the past 25 years Relocation Africa has been in business.

The continuation of driving costs down and improving service delivery is on the top of each RMC’s mind’ and we as a consolidated group need to review how we can do this.

Essentially both the RMC and the DSP need to collaborate better to build partnerships with their clients, and have a direct impact on cost efficiencies and value creation. However, I noted that we as a DSP in Africa, and all the others are often referred to as suppliers. Without us as partners, the RMC could not service the client, and we should therefore never be referred to as suppliers, but only as partners. As you can tell I am pretty passionate about this particular point, but I believe when we are treated as partners, the value creation and cost efficiencies will ultimately be identified to the benefit of the client.

We had many meetings with RMCs, DSP partners, and others who were attending the conference, which allowed our business to appropriately benchmark and remain current in the industry.

We also attended a farewell to Beverly Mayhew, who has been a leader in our industry, carving a groove for many of us to follow. She recently sold her business, and although she has officially retired, she wants to remain involved in the industry.

The next EuRA conference we will attend will take place in Munich, Germany, from 30 April to 3rd May 2019. To learn more, click here.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1]. Image sources: Dominic Tidey [1], [2]; Sorin Cicos on Unsplash [3].