Instead of a plethora of verification bodies, the government and the industry need to set up a single, authoritative body that should be mandated to provide not just a final level of black ownership, but all of the significant details and proportions. Too much rides on this number to be sloppy or unclear about it.
The editorial highlights two other issues facing the BEE verification industry
- verification agencies differ in methodology, sometimes quite cynically. Beneficiary-aligned agencies find fault everywhere; corporate-aligned agencies find fault nowhere.
- some government officials set no store by the findings of verification agencies and claim high ratings can easily be bought.
There is a huge problem with standards in this industry, although I don't think this is why government agencies don't accept VA's findings - I suspect this is just plain bloody-mindedness. One verification agency described a few of the other agencies as monkeys - they may be right but these monkeys still issue certificates and these certificates are valid. It's no surprise that consultants like myself ally themselves to one or two verification agencies because we understand how those agencies work.
I suspect the quotes above refer to a competent DTI-type authority, something the DTI is not.
Something else about the numbers also bears consideration, you cannot come up with a contrary figure to government because they will refute them. They however use consultants like Duma Gqubule and UdgeAy who will find the figures to support their continuous contention that transformation is not taking place.
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