Paul Janisch

Distribution of verification agencies in RSA

The PPPFA requires verified BEE certificates and seeing that I am presenting another PPPFA conference this week I thought it would be interesting to see where the verification agencies reside. These same agencies are going to have to service suppliers that service municipalities in almost every corner of South Africa (not forgetting parastatals, national departments etc).

(Again - there is a slight issue with the alignment of the graphs, but if you click on each image the full image will come up)

Starting off with SANAS

There are 78 accredited agencies who are distributed such:

Of the 42 Gauteng-based Vas, 30 are from Johannesburg and 9 from Pretoria.

And IRBA

IRBA has managed to accredit 36 agencies since the 19^th of January, 2012. Not a bad feat at all. This is what their distribution is like

Off the 24 Gauteng-based ones 13 can be found in Johannesburg.

 

The total distribution (as of today) is

Vuyo sugarcoats and exposes

With the amendment of the (B-BBEE) act, the appeal by Oceana is strengthened.The amended act will actually force the different departments to use the measurement principles that are contained in the codes for their transformation policies. This means that all the broad-based elements shall be used unless there is justification for departure from the codes. The targets, the weightings and the thresholds of qualification criteria can be set by the industry, however, using the measurement principles of the broad-based BEE codes.

via www.iol.co.za

The Oceana case is interesting.  Vuyo writes

The core of the case is actually the broad-based BEE codes of good practice that look at all the elements of broad-based BEE versus the narrow BEE view of ownership and management. The judge was persuaded by the arguments of the respondents why they could not use the broad-based codes as “it would undermine the long-term rights allocation and management process and the progress made to date with transformation and create new and difficult practical problems”. The judge stressed the policy states that the BEE codes may be taken into account in the application process but are not mandatory.

This last paragraph was the one that brought Vuyo to conclude that the BEE Bill is the panacea of all empowerment.  Sorry Vuyo - you are not giving the public that complete story about the ridiculousness of the Bill and how it attempts to run roughshod over any other sensible piece of legislation, and justifies this under a flimsy recognition of the superiority of the Constitution (which the Bill violates in every possible way).

Contrary to Vuyo's glowing conclusion,  I expect we will see the very same policies that are attached to those other pieces of legislation will miraculously become codes of good practice in terms of the B-BBEE Act and won't even vaguely resemble a code that we have come to know.

No Vuyo - this article is well below anything we've come to expect from you.  It does expose the colours that you have nailed onto your mast.  Would it be safe to assume that with your well declared alliances we cannot expect any logical argument from you again?

 

A BEE conspiracy (theory)

This post is partially inspired by a comment made by Steven Friedman on Jujust Left the ANC and an email from a casual reader.

Friedman had the following to say about our failed hero

Malema and the ANCYL had been strategically “pushed” into the position of spearheading the proposal for nationalisation by a faction in the ANC. It was not clear what this faction would do about the financial support it had given him. 

“Mr Malema is 30 years old, he has no post-graduate degrees at all and he’s reputed to have R53 million in his bank account. Well where does the R53m come from? It’s not coming from tenders; it is coming from the people who tell him to do this,” said Friedman.

And then the good reader wrote

Hidden truth.  If new codes are 10 year codes as has been suggested, it means that many good deals will run out of “lock in cover” and will fold anyway. Go figure, if new ten year targets require maintenance of a 25% target, then it is clear that round two of the rent seekers scramble is about to begin.

The tie-in between these two unrelated comments is that it is possible that the new codes (and the the bill) are being pushed by a group of connected players (of no discernible political persuasion) who now want their place in the sun.  

Then when you look at section 12A of the Bill which allows an organ of state to set up its own transformation policy (which by the way is happening as I write), this conspiracy theory makes perfect sense.  There is a growing fear that this will have a very strong bent towards ownership - and guess who the owners of these suppliers would be? 

Now consider Pravin's exemption of certain schedule 2 and 3 entities from implementing the PPPFA until December this year.   This gives the new and old players a whole year to milk the infrastructure cow that our dear President has presented to us, without fear or favour.  Then when the Bill goes through and section 12A is mined for all that it is worth - you get guaranteed wealth for being connected. 

What would the Mythbusters say?