All of a sudden many people find themselves in an unaccustomed and disconcerting workspace. Home!

Your new workspace can be filled with very busy “colleagues” and distractions. On the other side you may be totally isolated and alone, which can be equally distracting. Working from home is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea.

The involuntary quarantine causes many mental health issues to surface, because we are social beings. This is even true of the self-proclaimed introverts, because people need social interactions. We don’t realize the value of the interaction and exchanges between colleagues during the course of a normal working day.

The issues that can come to the foreground from being forced to work from home in the midst of a world-wide pandemic are:

• The change in your mind-set from “living” to being in survival mode. This shift in mind-set is the clearest in people binge shopping for so-called essential goods, leaving shop shelves empty. The empty shop shelves aggravates the feelings of anxiety and despair. People who cannot afford to stock pile are even more anxious, because their situation turns out to be more hopeless.
• Increase anxiety takes a toll for the worse on your health. Stress and continued anxiety erode your wellbeing and leave your general immune response wanting.
• Working from home can decrease your job and financial security. In the process where decentralization wins ground, people’s fear for becoming redundant increases.
• The increased sense of insecurity leads to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.
• In reality it becomes more difficult to distract oneself from existing mental health issues and this promotes social withdrawal and loneliness.
• On top of all these reactions there are the fear for the lives of loved ones. We do not know how safe, our children, elderly parents and loved ones working in emergency and medical services are.
• Many people also do not know how loved ones are doing when they work somewhere outside the country.

The CIPC has enhanced the Compliance Checklist, which can be accessed by logging on to the CIPC’s E-Services platform, clicking on TRANSACT and then on the Compliance Checklist icon.

From the 5thof March 2020:

• It is mandatory for the following types of companies, i.e. Incorporated –Inc. (21); Proprietary Limited –(Pty) Ltd (07); Limited –Ltd (06); State Owned Company –SOC (30); Non Profit Company –NPC (08) to confirm if the company’s annual financial statements are audited or independently reviewed.
• If you have confirmed “no”that your company’s annual financial statements are not audited or independently reviewed you will not be required to complete the Compliance Checklist. An email will be sent to all active directors and to the person who submitted this information confirming this.
• If you have confirmed “yes”that your company’s annual financial statements are audited or independently reviewed you must complete the Compliance Checklist.
• Upon submitting the Compliance Checklist, an email will be sent to all active directors and to the person who submitted the Compliance Checklist confirming the information sent on behalf of the Company.

I was sitting here thinking about 2019 coming to an end. Thinking what I still need to do before the year ends, while others who is privileged enough to have a paid job, can enjoy their holiday. At that moment I realised that I am actually privileged, that I am healthy, have a wonderful family, and I can work on my businesses for the last 11 years since I was retrenched after 25 years with a corporate. I felt like praying for those who now might find themselves in the same unfortunate position as I did 11 years ago today. For you I want to say, there is hope after retrechment, retirment, disability or other life changing event.

It was no easy road, but a great road, along which I could make a difference by the grace of God, in so many people lives. Bring them hope and encouragement, help them to find new ways of thinking, new ways of providing for themselves. Encouraged them to reskills themselves for this new environment that we find ourselves in.

I have seen so many friends, family, fellow matriculates, colleagues and people that crossed my path, getting the “THE RETIREMENT AGE” and are forced to retire with still so much to give and so much difference they can make and value that they can add,  just give up.

I want to encourage you, ......