KPMG worked with iQuad on this survey. They didn't ask me for my opinion on this so I'll give it now.
The last three years of the codes have revealed a few interesting trends
- BEE scorecards are becoming a lot more prevalent.
- Industries are starting to show a certain average score.
The upshot of the latter point is that the bigger corporates are now making certain types of demands on their suppliers to meet those average scores. Companies that fall below this are now under a lot more pressure to improve their scores. I suppose you could draw a conclusion that transformation is happening (if you can equate a high BEE score to a level of transformation).
But a high score without ownership is not good enough for Duma
However, Duma Gqubule, the founder of KIO Advisory Services, said the problem with many companies was that they got to level four of the Department of Trade and Industry's BEE scorecard by concentrating on skills development, employment equity and preferential procurement in order to avoid ownership.
"The presidential advisory council on BEE must develop mechanisms to close these loopholes. This is urgent because these companies score high without ownership. They pick and choose," he said.
Goes to show that the old ownership thing is never going to go away (it should because it's a total waste of time - we would be much better off with 100% black-owned companies that give the bigger companies a run for their money). But Duma is missing the point here - if there are industry averages then companies are going to have to aggressively chase all elements to remain in business.
The last thing we need is the BEE council to start pronouncing on this subject - all that will happen is that Zungu will end up making a total mockery of BEE deals (as he has up until now). And we don't want that - in fact he needs to be fired from the council.
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