Statement of clarity – vudderfawk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They say you should never start an article, book, sermon, song nor diatribe aimed at the DTI with I. I haven't.

I am busy, I have a hell of a lot of work to get through before the end of the year. Unfortunately the DTI and its minions are causing me to slip up on my work – and it's band practice night tonight so I have to write this post now and make up the work tomorrow.

I am going to post John Steenhuisen's little ANC roast at the end of this post because it is vital watching. He takes aim at a number of people but devotes the most time to Bolshie Bob (Rob Davies to first time readers). Watch that first and then come back and read this post, it will all make sense. Last week Rob repealed a number of codes summarily. I think I showed that this was completely unprocedural and illegal. Well blow me down if the SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION DIVISION DEPARTMENT OF (sic) TRADE AND INDUSTRY doesn't try and up the ante here. Yesterday's "Statement of Clarification – Repeal of Sector Codes" is a complete confectionary misappropriater.

I'm going to split this blog post into what the thing says, the potential ramifications and then what we should be doing.

1. What is says

As it turns not much. Id est

The repeal in the context of this clarification, implies that the two sector codes; cease to exist from the 17th February 2016.

All Measured Entities operating in the Construction and Chartered Accountancy sectors will be required to use the B-BBEE Generic Codes of Good Practice as amended and issued in terms of section 9 (1) of the B-BBEE Act No. 53 0f 2003 as amended by Act No. 46 of 2013.

All B-BBEE Certificates issued in terms of the Construction or CA Sector Codes prior the 17 February 2016 will be valid for a period of 12 months from date of issue in line with Statement 005. Such certificates should be accepted.

The first thing here is the word IMPLIES. They are not expressly stating that they are repealed. This is not a clarification – it's a muddification.

The second thing is "will be required to use". What does that mean? It doesn't say that they need to be verified under the codes from a certain defined point.

And thirdly (and I truly cannot take any credit for this – you know who you are). All B-BBEE Certificates issued in terms of the Construction or CA Sector Codes prior (sic) the 17 February 2016 will be valid for a period of 12 months from date of issue. It doesn't say certificates issued AFTER that date under those codes are not valid for 12 months.

The ramifications, intended and unintended

The main issue here is vagueness. When we were putting together our argument for our court case against the revised codes one of the attorneys argued very persuasively that vagueness offers you grounds for unconstitutionality. To the DTI's credit this is a well written document. It looks like a turd, it smells like a turd but it might just be vomit.

We don't really know what they want here. At face value it purports to repeal the codes and reinforce the repealing of them. And that's all they want. They want you to THINK this is the case because they couldn't be bothered to actually follow the process. They know that most will just get on with it. The likes of Eskom and the brilliance that resides within certain BEE verification agencies and consultancies will reject certificates issued after the 17^th under those codes. The DTI plays the "I don't know what you are talking about game", and businesses suffer. But what if the general public take this at face value? This is the most serious consequence. I have it on some authority that the reason why the CA charter council could not agree to an alignment if because IRBA verification agencies need at least a level 3 to retain their verification licence. The revised codes make it impossible (or as near as dammit to get to a level 3 – that's 90 points on a scorecard that marks against you). This is serious. There are 400 odd IRBA verification agencies that employ a number of people. I'm not going to talk about the consequences of unemployment because both Bolshie Bob and Malossie feel rocks for that. But most importantly if these companies are no longer able to verify then there is going to be a massive backlog because there aren't enough SANAS agencies. This will just be chaos – it is easier to come into this country under Malossie's visa regulations than produce and updated verification certificate.

1. What we need to do

We have a constitutional right to legislation that is clear and procedurally fair. This goes for sub-legislation as well. We need to approach a competent court to compel the DTI to follow dues process and to publish documents that talk to the subject at hand in a language that we understand. This is of critical importance. I am now going to go on another drive to get people to back me up in this drive. The consequences are more severe than ever. I won't worry about the revised codes yet, that court challenge is imminent.

I need help, I need attorneys, advocates and money. Who is in with me? I will not disclose who you are.