Mark Peach posted a comment a few days ago
Paul, give me your opinion on this please.
I have at the back of my mind something an ANC veteran once said to me: "don't always focus on what the Govet and the ANC says, look also at what they do without saying anything."
I think the Govt have already turned their back on BBBEE for two reasons: the position they have allowed themselves to be manoeuvred into by business is impossible to continue; and the sheer scale of the problems BBBEE was supposed to address was underestimated in the first place and it has become apparent that empowerment cannot achieve what it must.
In the last few months the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, the Industrial Action Plan, and the Economic Development Medium Term strategy have all been released, all with the aim of creating jobs and giving birth to the green economy. In my view the objectives of BBBEE have now been included into these strategies making BBBEE largely redundant. Of course, no one will say that or even countenance the view, but it's what is happening that matters most, and Govt knows business has taken BBBEE as far as it wants, there is no energy beyond compliance, but SA needs more than this.
Having read each strategy, I am convinced that Govt has settled for a more focused goal - jobs - and believes when jobs happen, many of the other objectives of BBBEE will only then fall into place.
I think Mark's point is absolutely valid and I agree with him completely. Business has taken it as far as they want to – we are now in a position where BEE scores and ownership levels are going to geared towards compliance and sticking within an industry norm. I sensed that when Rob Davies took over as DTI boss he was more interested in compliance and not so much transformation. I think his thinking is that compliance will lead to transformation in the long term – and to a certain extent I think this will work.
In that light the empowerment agenda must be shifted toward the public sector. And to get that right you need to get PPPFA right. A recent TimesLIVE report tells us that it still is in limbo
There seems to be no rush in getting this act through. The draft act became available for comment in the Government Gazette on August 14 last year. Now, six months later, there doesn't seem to be much movement on the matter.
We asked the national Treasury a couple of questions regarding the new act. The tepid response was: "The new preferential procurement regulations have not been promulgated. Until the new regulations have been promulgated, the current regulations remain valid."
My natural cynic claims that it's not necessary for black people to take a stake in a private company – it seems that the new wealth will come out of tender rigging. No more Mzi'ing for the private sector - and this activity is above the law too.
So what then for us poor BEE consultants etc? The answer lies in sustainability. This is the new buzzword – and it is a global phenomenon, so when the kak hits the fan and you need to go and sweep streets in Sydney – you can at least do it sustainably. If you are into sustainability or want to know what's happening with it then you MUST read and subscribe to Mark's blog. He's a little slow on posts – but perhaps we can all encourage him to become a little more prolific.