May the 1st approaches and Rob’s not ready

Not that this should come as a surprise. He's not been ready ever, a feature of an incompetent person who as a result of political patronage gets put in charge of the one ministry that he is least capable of running. If you want to get an idea of how little he cares about the economy take a look at Astrid Ludin's damning discussion of him which includes meddling, colluding with unions and siding against his management team. A nasty commie with no clue.

Only Rob the red would choose Workers' Day to launch his unintelligible bollocks onto the nation. That these codes are un-implementable is a moot point. That does not detract from the fact that the dti expects companies to implement them from May the 1^st (more accurately May the 4^th as that's when we all go back to work – with or without lights). I'll start with the positive.

• The revised generic codes (described by some as PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION – Mazwai et al) have been gazetted. The turnover threshold for large enterprises is greater than R50m
• The 2007 codes have not been formally repealed
• The revised QSE codes, specialised enterprises et al codes are still in draft form i.e. not finally gazetted
• None of the industry codes have been revised or formally repealed

Unless Rob does a blanket repeal and final gazetting of the remaining draft codes within the next few days (more on this later) this is what we have or don't have as the case may be.

• We don't know whether companies are to be measured on the revised codes from May 1 or whether new BEE certificates from May 1 need to be issued under the revised codes
• The revised codes only apply to those companies who turnover more than R50m. What about those who turnover between R35m and R50m – there is no new code for them
• The 2007 QSE codes remain in effect until such time as Rob gets his act together to repeal them and gazette the QSE codes
• Industry codes are still in effect and will remain so until amended following the proper process and then gazetted (a bit on Vodacom below)
• Specialised entitles (NPOs, universities etc) must use the 2007 codes.

Therefore the 2007 codes must apply to the following

1. QSEs
2. Specialised entities
3. Large/generic companies who turnover between R35m and R50m

Let's say Rob goes on a major repealing drive this week and kills all the industry charters and declares that those entities subject to an industry charter must now follow the revised codes. This would be grossly unfair and contrary to every single rule of law. Those who are subject to charters have been only considering their charters, is it then reasonable to expect them to suddenly toss their charters and follow a generic code that has not been applicable up until that point. I have a legal team that is waiting for this possibility and we will raise money very quickly to get this blocked. You may have noticed Loane Sharp's recent article in BDLive where he explains how corporate South Africa has had enough of this arbitrariness. He writes

More than a few business leaders quietly report that they will simply walk away from the new BEE regulations. Some of them indicate that, if they are compelled to do so, they will take instructions directly from the Constitution.

And then there was Vodacom

Perhaps the powers that be are spending too much time on their towers breathing in rarefied air. This notice has been doing the rounds, it refers directly to the revised codes – codes that Vodacom IS NOT subject to

Vodacom feels it prudent at this point in time to share its requirements from its Supplier Partners in terms of the new B-BBEE codes of 2013. These are:

• Minimum requirement remains at Level 4 or better (Level 1 - 3) status;
• New business awards shall focus on entities with 2:51% BO and/or >30% BWO but not limited thereto;
• Supplier Partners that currently, and in the future meet the 51% BO and/or >30% BWO shall be expected by Vodacom to maintain such BO and/or BW0 and ensure it does not drop below the 25.1% BO and/or >30% BWO at all times during its lifespan as a Vodacom Supplier Partner;
• Must have a valid B-BBEE certificate from all active Supplier Partners on record at Vodacom; and
• All certificates valid and/or issued after 01 May 2015 must reflect on the document the entity's "Empowering Supplier" status, only EME's are automatically considered an "Empowering Supplier". If the certificates do not state this it would not be accepted. Only entities which meet the Empowering Supplier status can be accepted and recognised under the Preferential Procurement element.

Let's be clear here. A level 4 under the revised codes is 80 points. This is 80 points on a scorecard that Loane Sharp describes as designed to "prejudice 'white' businesses and advantage "black" businesses (the DTI's terms) ahead of the R1-trillion rollout of government infrastructure projects" - a particularly succinct description. Getting to 80 points on this scorecard is almost impossible under fantastic circumstances. Every company implementing this scorecard will drop a level because of procurement. I'm quite sure that empowering supplier certificates will be handed out like ANC platitudes about them being a caring, responsive and selfless government. A level 4 is an unreasonable request. I'm quite sure they know this. The question is why is Vodacom doing this? Who are they are trying to curry favour with? ICASA?

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