By 
By dtic
The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), Mr Parks Tau has gazetted, for a 60-day public commentary period, the amendments to the following parts of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Codes of Good Practice: Statement 400 (Enterprise and Supplier Development), Statement 000 (General Principles), Statement 004 (Scorecard for Specialised Enterprises), Code Series 600 (Codes for Qualifying Small Enterprises), Statement on Schedule 1 (Interpretations and Definitions), and Statement 103 (Equity Equivalent Investment Programme for Multinationals).
Members of the public and interested parties are invited to make inputs and comments on the amendments to the Codes before they are gazetted for implementation. According to the Minister, the aim of the amendments is to strengthen implementation of B-BBEE in particular on Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD), which will serve as the main anchor for the establishment of the Transformation Fund.
The amendments are intended to create an enabling legislative ecosystem in the development of the aggregation of ESD funds and Equity Equivalent contributions, in support of the Transformation Fund.
“The amendments are a commencement of a process that we are embarking on which is the review of Transformation and B-BBEE policy,” adds Minister Tau.
As has been communicated extensively, the Transformation Fund is a policy and programmatic instrument that aims to refocus, re-engineer, aggregate and redirect the implementation of the empowerment objectives of B-BBEE to promote inclusive growth.
“This provides an opportunity for the 7th Administration, working with the private sector to increase the effective economic participation of Black-owned and managed enterprises, including small, medium and micro enterprises and co-operatives and enhance their access to financial and non-financial support in line with the requirement of the B-BBEE Act,” says Tau.
This amendment of the Codes, give practical impetus to the creation of the Transformation Fund.
“We are firmly in pursuit to transform the economy as guided by the Vision 2030 of the National Development Plan, which is to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality. Our Constitutional imperative places a collective burden on all of us to advocate for equality and redress”, emphasises Minister Tau.
The objectives of the Fund are as follows: Promote economic transformation in order to enable meaningful participation of Black people in the economy. Improve access to funding for Black-owned and controlled enterprises. Empower and support Black owned and controlled enterprises participation in value chains across key sectors of the economy. Mobilise financial resources from the private and public sector using B-BBEE legislation.
The B-BBEE policy, through the Codes of Good Practice, requires that entities must contribute through ESD in the 3% of Net Profit After Tax (NPAT), on development of Black suppliers, Black industrialists and MSMEs to broaden the industrial and services base of our country.
The amendments places the Transformation Fund as another option within the realm of ESD in the B-BBEE Scorecard. During the 60-day commentary period the dtic will be having sessions with stakeholders to create awareness while soliciting further inputs.
