Latest news with #R30-million
Daily Maverick
7 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
After the Bell: Scamming is a big business — be alert and make sure you're safe
The world is awash with people trying to steal your assets. Even big-name investors have been duped. Be careful out there. I am sure that whatever money you have wasn't easy to get – you and your family worked really hard for it. But have you ever noticed how so many people are trying to steal it from you? There are some days when it seems that literally everyone is out to take it. So often, there is a news report of someone who has fleeced people of their money. The latest was a News 24 report about Mark Kretzschmar, who claimed he could make money for people and who was able to run away with about R30-million. Moneyweb has done important reporting about the company Kleuterzone and its founder, former singer Anthonie Bougas. He now appears to be in Thailand, but is not paying the money owed to investors. Like so many of these cases, he makes certain claims that always amount to the same thing: someone else is responsible, not him. If you have been paying attention to this sort of thing, you will know about Banxso, which was a scam from the start. There are so many ways our society enables this. For a start, regulators find it tough to take any action, or to do it early enough to stop people from losing their money. I have some sympathy for the Financial Sector Conduct Authority here. I mean, no one will complain about losing their money until they've lost it. And by that point, it is usually too late. This means that in some cases, a group of people are giving money to someone, all at the same time, and it's only when one of them realises it's gone that they lodge a complaint. There would have to be an investigation of some kind, and only after that can the FSCA say anything. But I have no time at all for the digital platforms that allow themselves to be used to market these thieves. For several months, there were videos on YouTube of SABC TV presenters supposedly talking about a new investment product. Elon Musk was another who was deep-faked. Now, YouTube e arns more than $30-billion in revenue every year. Is it too much to ask that it does some checking to see if it is taking money from a thief? And to have a proper complaints mechanism where a TV presenter who is being deep-faked can make sure her image is removed immediately? I do wonder how much revenue for YouTube is from simple scams, whether it be a lose-your-money-quick scheme, or that guy who clearly can't sleep at night because he's so worried about my belly fat. If this has happened to you, you shouldn't think it was because you were stupid. Recently, big-name investors, including Sanlam Investments and Old Mutual Alternative Investments, lost up to R700-million after being conned by a company called Enable Capital. The Public Investment Corporation lost another R100-million in the same scam. The person behind it, Reuben Oliphant, seems to have… you guessed it… disappeared. And sometimes, someone appears to have almost found a way to scam someone out of their money legally. Last week, the JSE publicly censured Iqbal Surve's AYO Technology Solutions and issued a suspended fine of R500,000. This was because AYO had withheld information from shareholders about its settlement with the PIC that involved it re-purchasing some of its shares. But it seems the people, sorry person, behind AYO will get away with it. Much of the money the PIC put into AYO through its investment was taken out in the form of dividends. Dividends that make no sense compared with what the company has actually produced. As a result, the money is gone. The PIC will never get it back and someone has clearly benefited. The real poison of this kind of thing is that it makes the scheme look almost legitimate. In a society where so few understand how markets, capital and investments work, it's easy to simply think people are rich because they were born rich – or because they stole their money from someone else. This kind of incident, where someone can literally lie to shareholders (thus possibly depriving them of money) and get away with it, will consolidate that view. Scamming is now big business. In Myanmar alone, there are thought to be around 150,000 people being held against their will in what amounts to prison camps, and forced to try to scam people online. Just think about that number for a moment. It is simply unbelievable how big this industry has become. To run prison camps for that many people requires capital. They wouldn't do it if they weren't making serious cash out of it. Can you imagine the nightmare of being a person who has been, you guessed it, scammed into going there, and finding themselves in one of these camps? I'm not qualified to tell you how to keep your money safe. But please. Please, please, please, make sure that you do. DM
Daily Maverick
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
The Financial Wellness Coach: How to calculate your retirement savings capital
The amount of retirement capital that you need depends on how much you will require to live on every month. Question: My friends tell me I need R30-million in order to retire. My savings are nowhere near that. Am I in trouble? Answer: The amount of money that you need in order to retire will depend on how much you need to live on when you have retired. I do a lot of retirement counselling with individuals approaching retirement, and determining how much they need to live on is always the first step in the planning process. I've found that this amount can vary dramatically – from as little as R8,000 to as much as R230,000 per month. Depending on how much you need in a month, the amount of retirement capital that you need will vary. If you need an after-tax income of R100,000 a month, you will need about R32-million in savings. I suspect that this is where the R30-million story comes in. However, I find that most retired people I help need an after-tax income of between R30,000 and R50,000 a month. I will go through the factors you need to consider when working out how much you will need in order to retire. Monthly retirement budget The first step in working out how much you need when you retire is to get an idea of how much you need to live on each month. I would recommend that you draw up a budget based on what you are spending now, and then amend it to reflect the type of spending pattern you may have when you retire. For example, your parking and lunchtime costs will probably reduce and your medical costs will increase. If you need help here, I have a retirement budget spreadsheet that I can email to you. Tax Once you have figured out how much you need, increase that amount to account for income tax. Drawdown rate and investment strategy You need to ensure that you will have enough money to live on until you, your spouse and any dependants pass away. As one in 10 of us is likely to live to 100, you need to plan on having enough capital for the next 35 years when you retire. What's more, this capital needs to be invested in such a way that it can withstand all the economic and political challenges that you are going to experience over the next 35 years. For someone who is retiring at the age of 65, just think back to what the world was like when you were 30 and all the political and economic challenges you had to deal with. When you retire, you will have a similar set of challenges, but will only have your retirement capital to depend on. There will be no promotions or performance bonuses to help you. It is therefore vital that you get the right investment strategy in place. The recommended drawdown rate for a 65-year-old is 5%. The thinking here is that the typical costs of a living annuity come to about 2.5%, so as long as your investments are growing by more than 7.5%, your pension will increase each year and be sustainable for the rest of your life. In order to work out how much capital you will need in order to retire, you would do the following: Calculate your monthly expenses when you retire; Work out what tax you'll be paying when you retire and increase those expenses by the tax rate; and Divide that number by 5%. This will give you the capital needed to provide you with a sustainable income when you retire. Some examples can be found in the table below. What I've shown you is a rough guide for how to calculate your retirement needs. I would strongly recommend that you speak to a financial adviser who is experienced in retirement planning. They will have access to software that will help you structure your retirement income in the most tax-efficient way and be able to model your investments to ensure you get the right level of returns without risking your capital. DM Kenny Meiring is an independent financial adviser. Contact him on 082 856 0348 or at Send your questions to [email protected] This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.
Daily Maverick
08-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Mps demand accountability as nsfas struggles with payments, backlogs, and ICT failures
Members of Parliament described NSFAS as a disappointing institution, citing continual issues of non-payment and unnecessary spending. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is battling to repair its information and communication technology (ICT) system. It was allocated R100-million for the repairs, and only R30-million is left, according to NSFAS. The scheme's four solution partners responsible for managing student accommodation have delayed payments, resulting in financial complications for some landlords, some of whom have been forced to evict students. Members of Parliament's committee on higher education have expressed concern and frustration. They described NSFAS as a disappointing institution after continual non-payment issues and unnecessary spending. On Wednesday, 7 May 2025, NSFAS briefed the committee on student appeals, funding, allowances and accommodation matters. Newly appointed acting chief executive officer Waseem Carrim led the presentation, accompanied by new NSFAS board chairperson Dr Karen Stander. More than R16-billion has been disbursed so far this year to universities and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges for tuition fees, accommodation payments and allowances, NSFAS said. The scheme received more than 70,000 student appeals and had finalised 34,645. NSFAS has 5,533 appeals over outstanding documents, and will close 4,023 of these after a 30-day deadline. In August 2024, NSFAS was battling to ease the backlog of student queries and appeals with a designated staff of between 80 and 86. This led to MPs raising concerns and calling for NSFAS to be decentralised. Accommodation payments, landlord issues, student evictions Members of the committee criticised NSFAS's use of four service providers who were meant to conduct the accreditation of properties whose owners had applied scheme's accommodation platform. The committee heard that the service providers received a 5% commission from landlords for every NSFAS transaction. Committee member Sihle Lonzi (EFF) raised issues over student accommodation, referring specifically to the Walter Sisulu University student who died in a protest against housing conditions. Lonzi asked why NSFAS used service providers to pay landlords, and said this should be scrapped. Carrim replied that 'the solution partners receive that fee for the utilisation of their online portal…We and the board find this contract to be problematic. While we may not have signed these laws, we are bound by them, which is why we would have instituted a legal review… the SIU (Special Investigating Unit) has also flagged this complex accommodation process for a review… we are stuck with this process.' Committee member Sihle Ngubane (uMkhonto Wesizwe party) said, 'The institution is in tatters. It's disappointing and these things are made deliberately to be like this, from accommodation to tuition to transport to [the] ICT system, the whole value chain is a mess.' Committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie (ANC) criticised NSFAS for its delays in payments to landlords, saying this had major implications for business owners. Letsie cited the example of a landlord from KwaZulu-Natal who had lost 80 beds due to NSFAS non-payment. 'NSFAS did not pay, and they tried to plead with banks, but the banks wanted their money. This lady then lost 80 beds that she had for about six years,' said Letsie. Karabo Khakhau (DA) and Gaolatlhe Kgabo (ANC) questioned what caused the move to send funds to students, who then paid accommodation providers, which she said was a mistake. Carrim replied, 'The payment made to students for accommodation was not an incorrect payment. Those are students who claimed accommodation, but were not linked to an accommodation provider, and therefore it was necessary. Those students would have slept on the streets if we did not pay that accommodation allowance.' He said NSFAS had told the students that the disbursements had been for accommodation. Carrim confirmed that more than 3,000 accommodation providers had been paid, representing 100,000 students, at a cost of R1-billion. Missing middle funds NSFAS has been capitalised with R3.5-billion over a three-year cycle from 2024-2027 to support students who fall into the 'missing middle' category of R350,000-R600,000 annual household income. This support was introduced by former higher education and training minister Blade Nzimande. In this category, NSFAS received 65,812 loan applications, of which 2,268 were eligible, while 43,261 applications met the bursary criteria and were automatically funded, leaving 20,283 ineligible. NSFAS offices NSFAS spends more than R2-million a month on rent for its upscale Cape Town offices. There have been calls from MPs to relocate because of the cost. Carrim said NSFAS was willing to leave the building, but there were contractual obligations. He said the SIU had also confirmed irregularities in the procurement process. 'The Special Tribunal will impose an equitable outcome; NSFAS cannot, at this stage, be certain of whether the cancellation penalties will form part of that,' said Carrim. He said NSFAS was developing plans for relocation should the court rule for the immediate termination of the lease, so that business operations were not affected. Lonzi suggested that government buildings be used for NSFAS offices. Carrim asked for six months to turn around the struggling scheme. DM
