PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

08 April 2021

South African United Business Confederation (SAUBC) enlists Fluxmans Attorneys expertise in pro bono association

Today it was announced that Fluxmans Attorneys, one of South Africa’s leading law firms, will provide pro bono legal services to SAUBC. With a combined focus of important domestic and international issues, this will assist in improving our business sector and economy.

Yesterday SAUBC and Fluxmans held a successful webinar titled “Opt-In To POPIA 1st July: Legal Readiness for Small Medium and Micro Enterprises”. The webinar unpacked the fundamentals of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), legal implications for employers and employees in a new era of privacy centric in the workplace and whether Small Medium Micro Enterprises (SMME’s) are legally ready for the Act as it is effective from 1st July 2021.

“This association is a natural fit for us given our alignment with SAUBC’s objectives of contributing to the self-sustained development of our economy and the improvement of the lives of citizens,” explains Ira Epstein, CEO of Fluxmans.

SAUBC focuses on a variety of important domestic and international issues including POPIA which is a legal issue that is vital for businesses to understand and, most importantly, comply with.

South African President, His Excellency Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa announced last year June that more provisions of POPIA will come into force on 1 July 2020, giving the legislation more bite to protect consumers. This Act will give effect to section 14 of the constitution, which clearly describes that everybody has the right to privacy.

The Act aims to promote the protection of personal information administered by the community and private organisations and seek to balance the right to privacy against other rights, such as access to their information.

SAUBC President Mr. George Sebulela said, “For our members, it is very important that they understand the process to implement POPIA and how it will impact their businesses. Data control is essential to create an environment in which POPIA processes and procedures may be successfully implemented and its principles are maintained.”

Moreover, “business will need to restructure how they handle information in order to make sure they do not contravene the provisions of POPIA and note the penalties under Section 107 penalties which are the following: any person convicted of an offence in terms of this Act, will be liable, in the case of a contravention of section 100, 103(1), 104(2), 105(1), 106(1), (3) or (4) to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years, or to both a fine and such imprisonment; or section 59, 101, 102, 103(2) or 104(1), to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months, or to both a fine and such imprisonment.”