A recent PPP bid document from the City of Johannesburg had this notice as a condition
EMPLOYMENT EQUITY STATUS
Proposer must include in their Proposers (sic) submission full details of their company/venture with the DoL regarding their compliance with the provisions contained in the EE Act
Proposals must include at least the following:
Not required to register in terms of the Act (Details to be provided)
Exemption received from the DoL
Compliance with the Act (Proof to be submitted)
Failure to provide this information may render the proposal liable to rejection on the grounds of being incomplete.
THE CITY OF JOHANNESBURG RESERVES THE RIGHT NOT TO PROCEED WITH ALL OR PART OF THE AWARD OF THE PROPOSAL
I am sure that this condition has been used before but it's the first time I have seen it. The condition is taken from section 53 of the EE Act which states:
53. State contracts
(1) Every employer that makes an offer to conclude an agreement with any organ of state for the furnishing of supplies or services to that organ of state or for the hiring or letting of anything -
(a) must -
(i) if it is a designated employer, comply with Chapters II and III of this Act; or
(ii) if it is not a designated employer, comply with Chapter II of this Act; and
(b) attach to that offer either -
(i) a certificate in terms of subsection (2) which is conclusive evidence that the employer complies with the relevant Chapters of this Act; or
(ii) a declaration by the employer that it complies with the relevant Chapters of this Act, which, when verified by the Director-General, is conclusive evidence of compliance.
(2) An employer referred to in subsection (1) may request a certificate from the Minister confirming its compliance with Chapter II, or Chapters II and III, as the case may be.
(3) A certificate issued in terms of subsection (2) is valid for 12 months from the date of issue or until the next date on which the employer is obliged to submit a report in terms of section 21, whichever period is the longer.
(4) A failure to comply with the relevant provisions of this Act is sufficient ground for rejection of any offer to conclude an agreement referred to in subsection (1) or for cancellation of the agreement.
It was this section that started my interest in BEE. It's the same section that jungle is going insist is used in all government tenders. As far as I know the tender must state that it is a requirement otherwise the standard PPPFA rules apply.
To the best of my knowledge no-one has ever seen this certificate from the minister but I would imagine that the receipt you get from a manual submission of confirmation of submission for online submissions should suffice.
jungle's success as DG will be measured by the number of tenders that do include this. And we'll see whether he gets his 10% of turnover as a fine. I also heard that the DoL lost their Comair fight.
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