EDITORIAL | THE IMPORTANCE OF B-BBEE
The GNU made a national
transformation agenda one of its
overarching policy priorities, aiming to address the societal imbalance left by the apartheid regime.
Meanwhile, the Reconstruction and Development Programme
(RDP), Growth Employment and
Redistribution (GEAR), Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative
for South Africa (ASGISA), New Growth Path (NGP), National
Development Programme (NDP) -
2030 and the more recent Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP), all address the economic facet of the national process,
by focusing on, among others,
infrastructure investment, skills enhancement, support for
SMEs and macroeconomic
stabilisation, government has moved to tackle race and
gender-related inequality in
a much more direct fashion. Additionally, the B-BBEE of
2003, sets out the government
policy of situating B-BBEE
within the context of a broader
national empowerment strategy.
The broad objectives of the B-BBEE policy include an alteration to the racial and gender composition of ownership and Management structures of existing and new
enterprises as well as in skilled
occupations, increased access
to finance for black people and
women, the employment of rural
communities, the development of black South Africans as human
In 2019 a number of amendments to the B-BBEE Code of Good Practice were published in the Government
Gazette. These included changes to
definitions, procurement recognition
rules and enterprise development and supplier development qualifications:
• Absorption is now restricted to the securing of long term employment and no longer includes further education and training.
• Designated group supplier means a supplier must be at least 51% black-owned.
• Long-term contract of employment is a legal agreement between an
individual and an entity that would
employ the individual until his or her mandatory date of retirement.
• 30% black women-owned means
an entity in which: (a) Black women
hold at least 30% of the exercisable voting rights as determined under
Code series 100; Black women hold
at least 30% of the economic interest as determined under Code series
100; and (c) has earned all the points for Net Value under statement 100. • Current equity interest date
replaces the Net-value date
• Qualifying ESD Contributions amends the qualification of
beneficiaries to 51% black-owned or black women-owned QSEs or EMEs, whereas previously it included 30% Black Women-owned entities.
capital through programmes such as
coaching, mentorships, sponsorships, internships, and preferential
procurement policies for black-
and women-owned businesses.
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This article is provided for information only, and does not constitute the provision of professional advice of any kind.
