Doing Business in Sandton, June 2021

Welcome!

Welcome to the Megaplex Business Booster Newsletter as advertised in our longstanding Newsletter: "Shopping in Sandton".  After an absence of 11 months due to lockdown, we're back.

This short monthly newsletter will give you quick tips that can make your business more profitable, more robust, and less likely to bankrupt you.

You are receiving this because you subscribed, or because your business in Sandton or Bryanston appears on the megaplex.co.za website.

The big emergency is .the Protection of Personal Information Act (the POPI Act or POPIA).  Below we have two ways –both free– that will help you identify the scope of the problem.  Then there is a Paid POPIA course at the best price available.

The Covid-19 lockdown is unprecedented in our lifetimes.  Nevertheless, scammers are still active.  There's helpful advice below

Are you an Engineer or Scientist?  Like to turbo-charge your use of Microsoft Excel?  Below is a live on-line course that may help.

POPI Act Deadline is Still 30 June, Despite Reports...

Despite reports, the POPIA deadline is still midnight June 30. That's just nine days away.

Ten days ago, the Information Regulator issued a statement that is a masterpiece in miscommunication. This is the reason for confusion about the deadline.

It says, exactly:

The Information Regulator has, in terms of section 114 (3) of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (No.4 of 2013), determined the 1 February 2022 as the date on which section 58 (2) of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (No.4 of 2013) shall become applicable to processing referred to in section 57 of the said Act.

What it really means is:

You may not process certain sensitive information in certain ways without prior authorisation from the Information Regulator. We've changed the deadline for you to get such prior authorisation to 1 February 2022.

This has nothing to do with the June 30 deadline.

The POPI Act, POPIA, the Protection of Personal Information Act, still goes live on 1 July.

Discover a five-day approach to data privacy compliance this Wednesday, at 8 pm. Invest 60 minutes this week. Never face a civil servant probing your POPI compliance.

🎯 Click here to join us online at 8 pm Wednesday to answers to POPI for small businessI.

From FNB: Beware of Phishing!

Phishing is a form of fraud where criminals attempt to access your confidential information by an email request for information or by luring you to a fake website.

You should never respond to an email that:

• Asks you to enter your User ID, password or account numbers into an email or non-secure web page.
• Asks you to confirm, verify, or update your account, credit card or address information.
• Requires you to enter personal information directly into an email or website following a link, which will then submit that information in some other way.
• Threatens to close or suspend your account if you do not take immediate action by providing personal information.
• States that your account has been compromised or that there has been third-party activity on your account, and requests you to enter or confirm your account information.

The most important thing to remember is not to interact with the sender of the email. Never enter any of your personal or account details. Banks never ask for sensitive information via email.

PS: That includes what may appear to be the bank's website, if you clicked a link in the email.  Always use your own bookmark to open the bank's website, never one from an email hyperlink.

Calling our Engineers and Scientists!

You've heard of Microsoft Excel, right?

You are probably using it for simple calculations.  Maybe your household budget.  A bank recon or two...  Perhaps some area or volume calculations?

Do you see Excel as just a toy for accountants?

Are you aware of the sheer power you have at your fingertips?

Not only does Excel have all basic mathematical functions, it has advanced statistical functions, matrix manipulation, charts, and much more.  Are you, as an engineer and scientist, using it to the full?  Are you aware of how much it can do?

Start using Excel to its full potential as an engineering and scientific tool.  On the

Two-Day Excel for Engineers and Scientists Webinar, July 2101

Many of us are self-taught and have gaps in our knowledge.  Fill those gaps on the online training next month: Two full days of personal attention in a small class, a week apart to allow you to practice.

Next Course Dates: Friday 16 and Friday 23 July 2021 (two days).
Venue: Live Online via Zoom.
Early-Bird Price until end June: Only R4,499 plus VAT per trainee.  Thereafter R4,999 plus VAT each.
Course Creator and Facilitator: Rick Raubenheimer.

Run by Software Africa. More information on this web page.  For more information and to book, click here and send the resulting email.

Act Now and get the discounted price!

Some More Act (POPIA) Links...

The Protection of Personal Information Act. AKA the POPI Act, or POPIA, goes live on 1 July 2021.  Here's a free course that tells you what the law says –in plain English.
It's as long as a typical evening seminar, but online: Free Online POPI Act Training.

Here's a follow-on course, not quite gratis, but the cheapest you are likely to find, that tells you how to get POPI compliant in just five days,

All the best from Rick at megaplex.co.za,

the World's most helpful website for shops in Sandton.

To view other issues of the newsletter, click these links (same page):
2019: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November,
2020: January, February, March, April, May (there was a gap during lockdown)
2021: May, June
Subscribe here or locate another period.