HR software in South Africa carries two obligations that international vendors often treat as configuration. The first is BCEA leave. Annual leave accrues at one day for every seventeen days worked, sick leave runs on a three year cycle, and family responsibility leave is its own entitlement. A system that only offers a flat annual allowance will need a workaround from day one.
The second is POPIA. An HR system holds identity numbers, medical aid details, disciplinary records and next of kin. That is special personal information in the terms of the Act. We look at where data is hosted, what the vendor commits to in its operator agreement, whether access can be restricted per record rather than per module, and whether an employee can be given a copy of their own file without an administrator exporting the whole database.
Beyond compliance, the useful question is whether the system reduces admin or simply moves it. We say so plainly in each review.