Perhaps the reader has heard of a band called Winger. I can't say I have ever listened to them but I am very aware of their guitarist Reb Beach. Beach told a story about how they were riding the musical wave in the 1990s. This wave ran out of water because of the nerdy character in Beavis and Butt-Head
The story goes along these lines
Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head animated cartoon was centered around two heavy metal loving morons who wore t-shirts with AC/DC and Metallica on them. Their job was to take MTV videos and make fun of the bands in them, as well as criticize almost everyone and everything while lacking the I.Q. of a small squirrel themselves. One of the characters on the show was "Stewart" a simpleton looking kid who always wore a Winger shirt. In short, Winger was deemed a band that was safe. A band for wussies. Once the show got started regularly airing episodes with a boy wearing the band's shirt, Winger seemed to go from hero to zero almost overnight.
It would seem that SAICA has done something similar. In a bid to remain relevant (I am hearing from a member or two that the R7500 it costs per year to be a member does not generate anywhere near that value) SAICA posted an opinion (like Mike Judge did with Winger) that described the ETI skills development programme as both an abuse and a scheme. Both words should not be described as complimentary.
It was a bit out of the blue. The opinion is airy fairy, uses great generalisations and has raised the ire of iCollege. ICollege is a skills development company. They provide a number of qualifications for poor people at no charge. The requirements to be a student are very similar to the requirements for an employer to claim the Employee Tax Incentive. Their response to the SAICA article makes it very clear that the 50 000 odd students they have on their programmes are there because of the ETI. I'm not going to go into the details of how the programme works – you can take that up directly with iCollege. However the response they issued after the SAICA opinion is worthy of comment, because it contains a number of pertinent points.
- SAICA must have known about the ETI skills programme for a long time, because it was SAICA members that have signed off on the financials of the many iCollege clients. What brought this on now
- SAICA did not approach iCollege, or any other service provider, for their opinion before they published it
- SARS had audited many of the iCollege clients over the years and not found fault with the programme
- This opinion has the potential to terminate the future of 50,000 students on the various iCollege programmes (and close down the iCollege business altogether)
There's a lot to these points. A friend told me "the problem with SAICA is, like paying taxes to the South African government, there’s not much you get for value in return. You get an email every once in a while telling you, you must be ethical and you’re in trouble." It's a question of relevance. SAICA needs to be relevant. Why now - they maintain in their opinion that they spoke to SARS about it in 2019. Surely this is a SARS issue.
To the best of my limited knowledge, SAICA has not come back with any clarity. Their hipshooting has represented the industry with a negative brush, it's rather like using broad strokes to describe the entire taxi industry (or the ANC). It's not a fair indication of what is going on.There is merit, because there must be some COVID-preneur types who harvest ID numbers and create ghost employees.
The SAICA opinion does not look at the substance of the programmes. It does not consider the consequences of its myopia. And it highlights how dangerous it is for a respected body to cast ill-informed aspersions.
The fact remains that the ETI deduction if it adheres to the myriad laws that govern employees is legal. There may be loopholes that present opportunities for businesses like iCollege, but these same loopholes present huge opportunities for the marginalised in this country (I would hazard a guess that 99% of the beneficiaries on these programmes are black). An opportunity that most of these people would never have received because of their socio-economic circumstances.
This is an interesting battle, my flag is firmly planted in the iCollege camp. SAICA has some explaining to do, and possibly should consider a retraction or a major qualification. They are messing with futures. All the best in your endeavours iCollege. I'll be following this closely.
And then there's Robert Johnson who has some sage advice for us all. In the SAICA situation it's not always easy to figure out who your enemies are.
There is always an opportunity to quote Robert Johnson, everyone (except Trump and Malema) should quote him. Johnson's song "When You Got A Good Friend" discusses opinions and friends
Mmm-mmm, babe, I may be right or wrong
Baby, it's your opinion, oh, I may be right or wrong
Watch your close friend, baby, then your enemies can't do you no harm
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