About IBN

IBN Consulting & Immigration offers integrated, comprehensive, multi-sector assistance and practical advice for any business activity in Southern Africa. Efficiency, integrity and transparency compliment the international experience of many years.

For 14 years IBN is among one of the leading consultancy agencies concerning corporate and private investments in Southern Africa. With its offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Stellenbosch as well as a representations in Hamburg, Berlin, Seoul and Dubai, IBN with its team of legal advisors, business economists and business bankers is a competent partner for international companies and private persons in terms of legal, economic and financial aspects and not limited to the most popular questions with regard to immigration to South Africa, kinds of permits and company set-up.

Since 1997 IBN is the publisher of the book “Investing in South Africa – Opportunities and Risks in the 21st century” which will shortly be released in the 6th edition, author of the Austrian foreign trade publication “AWO Fachreport” and various leaflets which can be obtained at the IBN library. The company is not only licensed as a Financial Service Provider but it is also Level 4 compliant under the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) policies.

Do not hesitate to ask us today about work permits, permanent residence permits, company set-up, all aspects of an immigration to South Africa as well as government grants, contract drafts and Last Wills and Testaments. We are only one email away!

Business & Law South Africa

Renweable Energy

The Department of Energy has confirmed that it received a total of 79 tenders, representing 3233 MW of potential power generation capacity, during the second bidding round under its renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) purchase programme, which closed on March 5, 2012.

Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said the response from IPPs was well above the 1275 MW allocated for the March window, as well as the more than 2300 MW still available for allocation under a programme that aimed to procure 3725 MW of renewables capacity that could be introduced to South Africa’s electricity network between 2014 and 2016. The preferred bidders for the second round would be named on May 14.

Update your Company Documents

The previous company law consisting of the Companies Act of 1973 and the Close Corporations Act of 1984 has been replaced by a new, single Companies Act, which came into force and effect on 1 May 2011. Previous types of corporate incorporation have been abolished, amongst it the Close Corporation, and replaced by a variety of new company types. All existing companies need to address and implement the changes under the new law and are invited to contact any IBN office to get advice with regard to the necessary amendments.

Work Visas currently impractical

Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has established a special “backlog adjudication unit” to clear up thousands of outstanding applications for work permits. To create jobs and to accelerate growth it’s important for South Africa to speed up the granting of permits. In the 2010/2011 financial year there were 22 676 wok permit applications, of which 16 639 were approved and 2 643 rejected. This leaves a backlog of about 3 000. In the 2011/2012 financial year there have been even more than 7 000 unresolved. Ms Dlamini-Zuma did not indicate how many of the 10 000 outstanding applications over the two years had been resolved, meaning the backlog could be that high.

Ms Dlamini-Zuma admitted that there is a backlog and said that the department has separated the adjudication of visa and permits into two separate functions, namely the daily adjudication and backlog adjudication. The two units would operate in parallel to each other. One would prevent the backlog from growing while the other would ensure that the backlog was wiped out. According to the department’s annual performance plan work permits should be issued within 30 days. Ms Dlamini-Zuma said that all applications that are over 30 days have been logged in in January 2012 and are processed by a dedicated team of adjudicators. In the 2012/2013 financial year, more capacity will be built to ensure permits were issued within the stipulated time frames. The time frame to finalise the backlog is set for 30 June 2012.

New Labour Law Bills

Last week the cabinet adopted the Labour Relations Amendment Bill and the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill. The Basic Condition of Employment Amendment Bill will empower the Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant to determine wages for some sectors of the economy, which are not covered by any other sectoral determination or by a bargaining council collective agreement. She will also be able to prescribe minimum pay increases in a sectoral determination. The Labour Relation Amendment Bill is tightening up the regulation of temporary workers and gives more flexibility for employers in dealing with dismissal of high-earning employees earning more than R1m a year.

High-income earners will be excluded from bringing unfair dismissal claims to the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration. Dismissals of these workers will be deemed to be fair if they have been given the required notice of at least three month, or pay in lieu thereof, a regulations that is regard by experts as unconstitutional.

Labour broking will be controlled through the regulation of temporary employment. Workers employed for longer than six month will be regarded under the Labour Relations as employees of the client of the labour broker and treated the same as other employees performing the same work, unless there are justifiable reasons for not doing so.

Organised business and labour warn that the Labour Relations Amendment Bill and Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill won’t survive scrutiny at public hearings in Parliament. The two bills proposed radical, unworkable changes to how temporary work is defined in South Africa.