Paul Janisch

Worcester Voorsieners and a Ronald Davids Labour Services "BEE certificate"

This is atrocious. One Ronald Davids Labour Services has gone out and issued this "self-assessed BEE" certificate for Worcester Voorsieners. As far as I can see Worcester Voorsieners as using this as their BEE scorecard, in all likelihood they have been informed by Ronald Davids Labour Services that this is acceptable. And then, after bullshitting the client, Ronald Davids Labour Services puts this disclaimer at the bottom

Ronald Davids Labour Services provided independent B-BBEE expertise and assistant management in compiling this Self Assessment Scorecard. Ronald Davids Labour Services cannot be held accountable for any wrongful information given by the employer.

And "Ronald Davids Labour Services is a "Proud member of NABC"

 

There are myriad problems with this.

1. Rob informed us on the 31^st of July, 2009 that only SANAS-accredited BEE certificates issued after 1 Feb 2010 would be acceptable. He did give people like me and Ronald Davies a break in that certificates issued on the 31st of Jan, 2010 would remain valid until the 30th of Jan, 2011   This certificate was "issued" in June 2011 and certainly purports to be a certificate because it has an expiry date.. Ronald Davids are well behind the times here.
2. It's a violation of a variety of the regulations contained in the NABC constitution – especially 1.E To insist upon a high standard of professional behaviour on the part of members and to preserve and maintain the integrity and status of the BEE consulting sector, to take any steps which may be thought necessary to stop or prevent dishonourable or harmful conduct and practices by members.
3. Whilst I cannot be sure of this – I am very sure that Worcestor Voorsieners paid Ronald Davids something for this abomination.

Now to get onto Ronald Davids likely defences

1. There is no legal requirement to produce a proper BEE certificate (SANAS or IRBA). True – but no one is going to accept your certificate. Your client loses here
2. The NABC is toothless, has no power etc. Probably right, I believe they are a waste of time (although their website is actually very good), and that's why I didn't join them. But what you've done here is quite unethical.
3. I consulted to them and then produced the certificate as a guideline. That's just not good enough – this is very clearly a certificate and seems to be used as such. If you want to make sure that you don't embarrass yourself or your clients then produce a report without a scorecard certificate. I also don't care if the client asked for this – it's poor consulting to issue something that has no value whatsoever.

I really thought that we'd moved beyond this abominable conduct. As usual the afflicted are given a right of reply which will be posted on this blog.

Frank Zappa on democracy and artistic freedom

People who are artistic have always been a threatening force to people who are dictators.  Even though we call this country a democracy, it's turning out to be more and more a candy-coated dictatorship.  It seems fairly logical that those (candy-coated dictators) would do everything to make it impossible for people who communicate through the arts to say anything that might say a message like "the emperor isn't wearing any clothes".  For some reason that scares the piss out of them, so they do everything they can to stamp it out.

Q: In a democracy, are there any controls that are valid over artists?

A: No, why does an artist need to be controlled in a democracy.  In a democracy everyone gets to say what's on their mind.

Zappa from 1991.  South Africa still had a lot to do to get to its democracy, this is Zappa speaking about George HW Bush and his administration.  The parallels between the ANC and American politics are probably no coincidence - politics is politics.  It doesn't excuse the ANC for being so patently incompetent.

 

Ferial, the spear and Verwoerd's idol - jungle jim

I'll do the same.  I love the fact that the ANC boycott against City Press didn't work.  We now need to watch the advertising in this publication, can the dominant party (I'd love to say ruling party but they clearly aren't that)  separate itself from its governmental role and ban all government advertising on City Press.

So said Ferial Haffajee on the City Press website this morning.

The Spear is down. Out of care and as an olive branch to play a small role in helping turn around a tough moment, I have decided to take down the image.

Another interesting article in the papers this weekend were on the über-racist jungle jim. The best one spoke of how his contract as Government Communication and Information Service CEO is not going to be renewed. But the hard-hitting article came from Jonathan Jansen in the Mail and Guardian.

Anyone who thinks that Jimmy Manyi, after his comments about coloured people, is simply an aberration on the post-apartheid landscape is hugely mistaken. Manyi, like Butana Komphela, is merely saying the kinds of outrageous things that many of his ilk among the powerful (and the restless, economically disen­franchised and powerless) think but lack the courage to say openly about the people they dub "coloured".

Manyi is a perfect product of our racist past: he categorises humanity into the four racial boxes of apartheid, assigns biological and social essences to the people in each of them and then damns them accordingly. I once sat on a panel with this man discussing affirmative action and employment equity, and I was astounded by his lack of reflection, his incapacity for generosity and the racial and ethnic determinism that shapes his thinking.

The fact that the man is protected by so-called black (read "racial African") lobbies and receives a light, laughing tap on the wrist from powerful political parties tells you that Manyi-type thinking enjoys considerable support among the elites. That he holds positions of influence makes the man's thinking dangerous in the extreme. What he spewed out and now receives support for is no laughing matter. This is precisely the kind of racist discourse about others—"there are too many of them"—that preceded the ethnic genocide in Rwanda. It is the language of scapegoating, and our skins should crawl when faced with this kind of provocation.

I believe that this view that is taken by jungle jim is necessary for the ANC's survival. It is rapidly realising that its struggle credentials have run out of steam and now must blame whites and other minorities for its own failings. Something that Hitler and Mugabe were particularly competent at doing. Unless the ANC catches a swift wake-up it will be recorded in the history books as another African failure along with Mobutu Sese Seko, Mugabe et al.

More on this in an upcoming post.

 

Namibia: Govt Can 'Make or Break' New Mining Projects (NEEEF content)

Namibia's new proposed black economic empowerment policy, the New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework (NEEEF), is too close to the South African model which was "widely perceived to have failed", Dawe said.

Talks with Prime Minister Nahas Angula have shown that his position "is flexible on condition that our [chamber] members honestly embraced the NEEEF principles and that the targets [of the policy] would eventually be met",  Mark Dawe, president of the Chamber of Mines of Namibia said. Discussion in this regard are ongoing, he said.

Dawe on Wednesday said: "As we grapple through a minefield of policy and economic philosophies, we should never lose sight of the fact that this great country would be so much greater if the private sector would be allowed to flourish under a conducive, supportive and regulatory framework that optimises the utilisation of its mineral endowment to the benefit of all Namibians."

via allafrica.com

Three interesting things come out of this report

1. The government's flexibility in the implementation of NEEEF.  NEEEF is too extreme and is likely to alienate more people than it will benefit.  But a collaborative approach is a great start.
2. BEE (South Africa) is deemed to have failed.  Not so - it's the ANC that has failed BEE, not BEE that has failed as a policy.
3. The same sentiments about government intervention exist in Namibia as in South Africa.

Infrastructure fund, PPP’s a possibility for R3.2 trn plan

Government will seek to find innovative ways to encourage private sector participation in infrastructure development to achieve the R3.2trn infrastructure dream unpacked by President Jacob Zuma earlier this year in his State of the Nation Address.

Speaking at the 4^th Tshwane International Trade and Infrastructure Investment Conference that is being held in Pretoria at the CSIR, Gigaba said that private sector investment in the local economy has become even more crucial with the big infrastructure drive announced by the president.

Zuma unpacked the plan in his State of the National Address, with 17 key infrastructure programmes around the country for completion over the next two decades.

Gigaba said that while some of the money is available for the infrastructure roll-out programme, much still needs to be funded.

“The government has identified various funding models including the possibility of an infrastructure fund, public-private partnerships, public-public partnerships, and other models in order to unlock the balance sheet of the private sector,” Gigaba said.

via www.moneyweb.co.za

Exciting times for us all.

Can't wait to see Rob's new codes.

Businesses that fail to achieve a minimum score on the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) scorecard for ownership, procurement and enterprise development will be penalised by having their BEE level status dropped, the Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies said on Friday.

Davies, briefing media after his Budget Vote in Parliament, said his department was also putting in place a framework for wholly owned black enterprises to get BEE ratings.

He said the penalties would be contained in the new amended BEE codes which the department is yet to release.

Big companies that fail to carry out certain minimum requirements in the codes of ownership, procurement and enterprise development would lose two places in their BEE level score, while smaller companies that fail to meet the minimum requirements on these elements would lose one place in their BEE level score.

Davies said the new codes would help compel bigger companies to become more active in enterprise creation.

The department is also putting in place a framework for wholly owned black enterprises to get BEE ratings

"The other problem we have seen is that wholly-owned or largely black-owned companies have been required to go to verification agencies, to get and pay some money to tell someone who is procuring from them that they are black and we think that that is a waste of resources

via 7thspace.com

A perfect illustration of how the ANC government goes about its business. Penalise companies for not complying with your ragtag and unintelligible policies. And at the same time demonstrate very clearly that you have no idea about economic policy, nor do you have the wherewithal to hire people who know what they are doing.

Zoomer has to go. He is destroying our country.

Zoomer - all willy and no balls

As this is a work of art, there is no chance that any half decent judge would grant the orders requested by the ANC, first, because there is no law that prohibits an artist from making such a portrait and second, because if there were such a law it would be unconstitutional. That is why I have taken the liberty to reproduce the artwork here and why I have invited my readers to distribute it widely. There is no place in our democracy for this kind of Christian Nationalist-like moral outrage and the concomitant attempts at censorship of artistic expression.

All the ANC has done is to make themselves (and our President) the laughing stock of the country. In fact, if I was a conceptual artist I would have taken the ANC statement, superimposed it over the ANC logo, and framed it before asking the Goodman Gallery whether it wanted to display my work of art. My work would be humorous, yes, but would also make an important point about artistic expression. I am sure I could have gotten a few thousand Rand for it, too.

via constitutionallyspeaking.co.za

The quote above comes from Pierre de Vos.  I do recommend that you read the whole post.  I think the image is slightly disappointing in that it doesn't look like Zoomer enough.

By the way - I believe that Zuma is a scourge worse than fronting and am a huge supporter of ABZ.  In fact, if showerhead is booted out I'll join the ANC.

 

 

Current 0-5 year targets still apply (so says Transcend)

The Dti is in the process of refining the BBBEE Codes of Good Practice and have made the following ruling regarding the 6 - 10 year BEE Targets on Preferential Procurement and Empolyment Equity...

"the dti is in the process of refining the Codes of Good Practice on B-BBEE and therefore the 0-5 year targets will be applied until the process of refining the codes is finalised and gazetted.

In light of the aforementioned, the dti will withdraw the notice to eliminate the confusion in the market regarding the implementation of the 6-10 targets and provide further guidance on the measurement date."

via www.transcend.co.za

My sources tell me that the old notice does apply but that the DTI (with very ABle help) are going to send out a notice that reads in proper English.

Apparently the advisers on this are going to let the DTI know (gently) that NO ONE ENDS THEIR FINANCIAL YEAR ON THE 9th OF FEBRUARY!!!

Riding shotgun with Transnet – nice day for a white wedding

At first I didn't pay much attention to this FM article.

The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has said it will force its winning bidder to accept a BEE partner chosen by the agency. It says such a measure would help it to prevent politically connected empowerment partners from benefiting from infrastructure development. The policy is mooted in place of the company selecting its own BEE partner, as has been the practice.

This is nothing new to parastatals. I've twice done work for a major power supplier and have been told that 30% of the business must be allocated to a nominated black business in a similar field. In one case the black business owners didn't even bother to come and meet us or find out what the project was about. They placed two contractors on the job who became our responsibility. The contractors were eager, capable and a pleasure to work with but it's very likely that they were paid a miniscule amount for their efforts. Their employers, however got paid very well for nothing. Admittedly we were completely remiss for not insisting that they do get involved.

There is a sort of mutually assured destruction in this relationship – the primary contractor is forced into this relationship and cannot be sure that the other party will perform and so they will do all the work, even at a discounted rate, without the involvement of the other party. They won't complain to the major power utility about this relationship for fear that they do not get any work from said utility in future. And the smaller partner is aware of this.

Whether this partnering results in a shotgun wedding or not is of little consequence to me (read the article to get the context). I would like to postulate a possible rationale behind this policy. This is pure speculation but fits in comfortably with my love of conspiracy theories. The heroes of my theory are the Black Business Council. A body that commands such respect and stature that they find it unnecessary to have even a Facebook page. Some have speculated that this organisation is racist, and others welcome it. I believe that it has arisen as a vehicle for a series of suspects (usual or otherwise) to grab a slice of the private sector because the public sector pie is not quite what it was.

There is a challenge facing our BBC heroes in getting access to the private sector's benevolence Unfortunately they have made it very clear where they stand and who they support. The Reuel Khoza saga (who should be awarded the highest accolade South Africa can award a citizen) allowed the BBC to take a different tack to other organisations. Their leader (I'm sorry, I meant spokesman) Sandile Zungu made the following statement

The spokesman for the BBC, Sandile Zungu, said the council was not convinced of the wisdom of choosing to use the medium of the Nedbank annual report, a publicly-listed company, to launch a full frontal assault on political leadership, in government or elsewhere. "We believe that the grave reservations that Nedbank may harbour about how our country is led, could have been raised more constructively in its regular engagements with the Registrar of Banks and Treasury, and perhaps through the associations that it is ultimately affiliated to," Zungu said.

In other words the BBC is really saying that business should really be polite about our inept government who squanders their tax money on everything but the welfare of South Africans. You can't really blame Zungrabber for saying this – he is known to be really tight with the über-married one; he's not going to go against his meal ticket. But in so doing it is possible that the private sector is not going to embrace the BBC that overtly. So how do you go about ensuring that you carry on hogging the honeypot? Simple – you get your parastatal buddies to force you onto winning bidders for tenders.

It's almost too simple.

As a postscript – I wonder what is going to happen to Zungrabber once showerhead is no longer head honcho of the great party of the struggle (but little else).

Come on Billy – sing us to sleep 

Cadre deployment is evil – Naspers’ Bekker

The solution seems rather simple. Let’s be led politically by politicians: leaders with few private interests and a wish to serve the common good.

They won’t make much money – exactly like elsewhere in the world – but if they’re good, they will get into history books and we’ll make bronze statues of them.

Let public corporations be run by people who have had their noses to the grindstone in that particular line of work.

Everyone will gain. Except politicians who want to use public office for private gain – what is called corruption.

Or businesspeople who want to be immortalised in bronze statues without subjecting themselves to the public service ethic.

Or any of us who want to play goalie for Kaizer Chiefs without the pain of first training very hard.

via www.moneyweb.co.za

But there's more
“Cadre deployment” into our public corporations is evil and the results are there for all to see."
Bekker uses France as an example of this type of evil.

"This is how you become head of Air France KLM: you study at an exclusive grande école, work for a minister and, if loyal enough, one day he will apply parachutage – cadre deploy you into a great corporation. The French economy has suffered. Surveys show that French workers are emotionally disengaged from their companies.
The parachuted imperial droppings are seen as snooty and impractical. Germany or Sweden have little of this nonsense and have prospered."

Nice to know we aren't alone. But nicer to see a prominent business person speaking out about this.