The dti is getting proactive, well at least they are proactively saying that they are going to be proactive. A regulator is going to be introduced to "curtail some forms of fronting". And this is at the behest of ABVA. Now that I have paraphrased this article I'm going to cut to the chase.
Chris van Wyk, ABVA's chairman, says that the codes are too vague and as a result "fronting" might occur. Then Sidwell Medupe states that this is wrong and throws in a PW Botha-ism
“The dti would like to state categorically that the above-mentioned statement is factually incorrect. In fact our minister has previously alluded to the fact that the verification industry is partly responsible for this scourge.”
The point is made, even though it makes light of Chris' original statement. But what is the dti going to do about it? They are responsible for all aspects of BEE. They provide us with the Act, the Codes, the Charters and............................SILENCE. That's right, when it comes to the crunch the dti remains silent. This ridiculous mess with Keith Levenstein and charters is but one example. Where was the dti when the industry needed them? Out to lunch I think.
It's no real surprise that the dti has only ever focused on fronting, labeling it a scourge and vile practice and other euphemisms, because fronting is safe. You don't have to even understand fronting as well as Levenstein to talk about it. But we in the know regard the dti's silence on the vagueness of their codes (Chris van Wyk reckons there are about 102 mistakes - he can't have read the codes beyond page 40 then) as a problem. Consequently we cannot be surprised that the BEE industry (if I may call it that) has had to resort to self-regulation. In fact the last place you want to go for clarity or advice is the dti. ABVA must be congratulated for actually managing the industry as well as it has over the last few years, excluding those years when they were completely ABVAcant.
The time has come for the dti to take control, drop the fronting front and show some real leadership. My sources tell me that Nomonde is doing a great job fighting all sorts of political battles to get stuff done. Our patience is wearing thin, tell us where we can help (without mentioning fronting) and we'll get involved.
And now a little ditty for the dti (for those who don't know, Sid Vicious played bass about as well as the dti understands BEE, it's not him playing on the track)
Comments