Day: July 16, 2024

Home Affairs Minister, Dr Leon Schreiber, has emphasised the important role played by his department in ensuring the dignity of people.

‘The dignity of being able to travel beyond our borders. The dignity of giving your child their name on a birth certificate. The dignity of being able to have a bank account and to access an old age pension,’ Schreiber said.

Presenting the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Budget Vote on Monday, Schreiber said he will restore the dignity of citizens’ interactions with the department, adding that many dedicated departmental officials serve the people of South Africa.

‘And there is nothing that brings dignity, like a job. There is a 1.25% increase in employment for South Africans for every 1% increase in skilled, legal immigration,’ Schreiber said.

Schreiber said the National Treasury has also found that increasing the availability of scarce skills in the labour market is the second most powerful step that can be taken to grow the economy and create jobs for South Africans.

‘
It is in fulfilment of this mandate of the GNU [Government of National Unity], that Home Affairs will enhance our role as an economic enabler by accelerating the implementation of Operation Vulindlela’s reforms.

‘Alongside steps that have already been taken, such as the streamlining of required documents and the introduction of the Trusted Employer Scheme, we will do much more,’ he said.

Operation Vulindlela is a government-driven initiative aimed at accelerating the implementation of structural reforms in key sectors to achieve inclusive growth in the economy.

Schreiber said the DHA must urgently clear the backlog in the processing of permits.

‘The department has set up a dedicated team to reduce the backlog. Our dedicated team has already reduced the backlog by processing 92 886 applications out of a total of 306 042. This is a reduction of 30%. But we must do more, because clearing this backlog is the only way to avoid another extension of the concession on visas, waivers and appeals that has already b
een granted three times.’

Schreiber said he has asked to be provided with daily reports on the state of the backlog until it is eradicated.

‘Another encouraging sign comes from the department’s partnership with Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), which will see the auditing firm Deloitte as well as First National Bank providing additional resources for the visa backlog team.

‘This not only lays the foundation for overcoming this key obstacle to economic growth and job creation, but also for a more constructive relationship with the private sector. Repairing our relationship with key stakeholders is vital to building trust and the partnerships we need to move forward,’ he said.

The crippling situation, he said, cannot be allowed to continue.

‘It consumes valuable resources that can be better spent on other critical priorities. I have therefore asked for a dashboard to be created that reflects all outstanding court orders so that the Department complies with orders before even more costly litigation is ins
tituted.

‘Clearing the permitting backlog will also help with this problem, as we are determined to issue outcomes more speedily once we have that breathing space,’ he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

At least 191 000 South Africans have filed their tax returns following the opening of the filing season for provisional and non-provisional taxpayers on Monday, 15 July.

This was revealed by South African Revenue Services Commissioner Edward Kieswetter, who briefed media on Tax Season 2024 on Tuesday.

At least 183 000 of those returns were filed on SARS’ online e-filing and mobile application service, and about 7700 were filed through Taxpayer Service Centres.

‘We anticipate, in total, by round about the 20th of January to have issued approximately eight million assessments for the 2024 tax year alone, and that’s besides prior year tax returns that taxpayers will submit,’ he said.

Some five million of those have already been auto-assessed by the revenue service.

Auto-assessments for an expanded pool of taxpayers ran from 1 -14 July 2024.

Kieswetter said during the first two weeks of July, SARS had more than 16 million digital exchanges with taxpayers, at an average of one million users a day – peaking a
t about 1.9 million interactions when tax season opened on Monday.

‘In total, we serviced over three million transactions across all our channels and over a million views on our website in one day. One hundred percent of taxpayers, who would have submitted their returns [on Monday], have already been assessed, 70% of those were assessed within our own five-second aspiration.

‘We also received 57 000 calls and could unfortunately only service about 15 000 of these due to the length of our calls and our current limited capacity to respond to these calls. Cumulatively, from the 1st of July when auto-assessments were issued, to date, 5.5 million taxpayers have already been assessed… creating possible refunds of R17 billion.

‘Of this, R10 billion has already been paid out. A further R4 billion will be paid out within the next 72 hours unless there is a specific reason why they are being withheld, he said.

Refunds that are withheld could be for the following reasons:

That a taxpayer has prior year outstanding
returns.

A taxpayer’s banking details may not be up to date.

SARS may have detected an inaccuracy.

SARS may have detected a need for further verification.

‘We encourage taxpayers to complete these outstanding checks before enquiring about their refunds and to make sure that their details and all outstanding matters are resolved and updated and then if you are due a refund, you should have no challenge,’ he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The South African Revenue Services (SARS) has already paid out about R10 billion in refunds to at least 1.6 million taxpayers who were auto-assessed ahead of this year’s Tax Season.This is according to SARS Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter who was briefing the media on Tuesday.

In the first two weeks of July, at least five million taxpayers were auto-assessed by the revenue service.

‘We completed these annual returns and tax assessments while, simultaneously, running each assessment outcome through our compliance risk and tax fraud detection capability. All this is possible because of the investment that we have been able to make in increasing and expanding the use of third-party data in the past few years.

‘We’re able to process over 90% of refunds for taxpayers that are not selected for verification within 72 hours through our fraud risk detection AI. We direct high risk taxpayers – for whom we suspect there may be a fraudulent or impermissible refund – for further verification,’ he said.

READ | SARS to
provide update of Tax Season 2024

In order to complete auto-assessments accurately, SARS harvested nearly 150 million third-party data records. This information was then processed through the application of artificial intelligence and enhanced machine learning algorithms.

‘We are extremely reliant on employers, banks and other third-party information providers to provide us with accurate data. The integrity of the entire value chain of data is important. We have worked extremely hard this past year with large institutions and entities to improve the accuracy of bulk data submissions.

‘We appreciate the partnerships with all third-party data providers to enable a seamless experience for taxpayers. Inaccurate data, or late data, causes downstream difficulties and unnecessary delays and frustrations for taxpayers.

‘SARS uses sophisticated graph database technology to decipher billions and billions of rows of data that allows us to compose a single entity view of a taxpayer and this, in turn, allows us to pro
duce an assessment outcome as well as conducting the necessary risk detection through the artificial intelligence methodologies,’ he said.

Kieswetter added that the AI tool used by SARS to detect fraud has saved the fiscus billions of Rands in fraudulent refunds.

‘Last year alone, this fraud detection capability prevented almost R100 billion of impermissible PIT and VAT [Personal Income Tax and Value Added Tax] refunds from being paid out and lost to the fiscus,’ he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Reducing cases of violent crime, including gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), will remain among the top priorities for the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Delivering the department’s Budget Vote on Tuesday, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said the police will place a strong emphasis on community mobilisation to increase police visibility through strategic partnerships.

To achieve this, Mchunu said the department has adopted the whole-of-government and society framework, guided by the integrated crime and violence prevention strategy.

The approach promotes an integrated, developmental, collaborative, knowledge-based, and evidence-based strategy for preventing crime and violence in South Africa.

Through the implementation of the increased crime prevention and combating action plan, the department aims to reduce the percentage of contact crimes reported by 14.5% over the medium term.

The detection rate for contact crimes against women is also expected to improve to over 71%, while the detection ra
te for contact crimes against children is expected to exceed 65%.

“These efforts will be primarily implemented through the Detective Services Programme, which has been allocated R71.3 billion over the medium term. The Visible Policing Programme, which weighs at least 52% of the total allocation of the budget will receive an allocation of R189.7 billion over the medium term.”

Mchunu said the proliferation of firearms also requires an urgent and a dedicated focus, as most murders are committed using illegal firearms most of which were previously legal firearms.

‘There are just so many firearm-linked crimes in society and the SAPS need to improve its own management of firearms in its possession,’ Mchunu said.

Modernisation initiatives

Mchunu also announced that an amount of R2,845 billion has been set aside for the 2024/25 financial year for modernisation initiatives within the department’s administration programme.

Mchunu said the department recognises the importance of modernising the police service to m
eet the challenges of the 21st century and beyond.

‘Our modernisation initiatives include upgrading ICT (Information and Communication Technology) infrastructure, improving connectivity, and deploying mobile technologies. These technological advancements will enhance our ability to respond swiftly and effectively to criminal activities.’

Core programmes

Meanwhile, Mchunu said the departmental spending over the medium term will focus on core programmes, with visible policing accounting for more than 52% of the total vote in 2024/25.

The Minister noted that the Detective Services Programme also holds significant weight, accounting for more than 20% of the budget.

‘There is an urgent need to have a relook at the budget allocation for detective services and crime intelligence budgets. Policing is a labour-intensive function, necessitating personal engagement between the police and the citizens of our country.

‘Consequently, personnel-related expenditure is the primary cost driver, contributing to more than
80% of the Vote. We will continue to deploy the number of members that can be accommodated within the confines of our allocated compensation budget,’ the Minister said.

He added that the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service is currently processing amendments to the SAPS Act, which was informed by the 1993 Interim Constitution.

‘The Secretariat is also finalising the National Policing Policy, which will serve as an overarching framework for policing and will accommodate the provincial needs and priorities in line with section 206 (1) and (2) of the Constitution,’ Mchunu said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Electricity and Energy Minister, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has welcomed the announcement made by the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) on the licence extension for the operating life of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 1.

On Monday, Eskom announced that the NNR had granted the power utility the licence to continue that unit for another 20 years until 21 July 2044.

‘The extension of the operating life of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 will not only ensure the continued supply of electricity to meet the growing demand, but also contribute to our efforts in transitioning towards a cleaner, more affordable and sustainable energy future.

‘We look forward to the continued safe and reliable operation of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 as we work towards meeting our energy needs,’ Ramokgopa said.

Eskom Chief Nuclear Officer Keith Featherstone said the granting of the licence is ‘a testament to the hard work and continued commitment of our teams to nuclear safety and Eskom’s generation recovery plan’.

‘
Over the years, Koeberg has identified and implemented safety improvements through both French and US nuclear experiences, which have reduced the risk to levels that would normally only be achieved by new, modern nuclear power plants,’ Featherstone said.

The power utility explained that the unit will continue to operate until January 2025 ‘when the unit will be shut down for its next scheduled refuelling and maintenance outage’.

‘The current licence for Koeberg Unit 2 only expires on 9 November 2025 and the Koeberg Power Station is implementing some of the pre-requisites for Long Term Operation in the current outage.

‘Once the current outage is complete, Unit 2 will be returned to service, and the NNR has stated that the decision regarding the Long-Term Operation for Unit 2 will only be made at a later date, but prior to 9 November 2025,’ Eskom said.

Source: South African Government News Agency