Paul Janisch

Third umpire

Page 14 of the Business Day today.  Buyelwa Sonjica, minerals and energy minister is given a red light for her department taking so long in awarding mineral rights.  And I quote.

Whether or not Tawana is using the threat of retrenchments as a lever, the fact is the granting of mineral rights is taking too long.

That's what I said last night.  Perhaps the government could provide tax cuts for the time that they take in awarding licences.  I like the idea of tax cuts when it comes to empowerment issues.

Tawana may fire local workers

So says the Business Day today.  Tawana Resources may dismiss (fire is a harsh word) South African workers at the end of this month because of the delay in getting their mining permit.  Minister of Mineral and Energy, Buyelwa Sonjica,  commented that the intention to dismiss workers  “is pure blackmail and totally unacceptable”. 

Hold on a minute here, if the government is going to delay in processing applications then they must accept the consequences of this delay.  And it would be really nice if they took responsibility for the consequences too.  Businesses cannot afford to pay staff who are not working because of delays like this - they have to make a plan.

Admittedly we don't have all the facts, it is possible that Tawana has left their search for a black partner to the last minute and maybe they are to blame.  But the DME is notorious for its delays and it has faced legal action because it is dragging its feet.

BHP Billiton’s Ingwe went to court before its prospecting rights were granted earlier this month.

The more I look at this issue the more elusive the solution becomes.  There is no doubt that more of the natural resources must find their way into black hands, But by taking a hard stand the government is threatening the livelihood of many people.  And where do these people go when they don't have a job - to Trevor Manuel.

Legal charter continued and delayed, and it's not the only one

I found an amazing site that gathers BEE news.  It's run by Sabinet and can be found here.

Two articles caught my attention.

No Agreement On Legal Charter

There was no final agreement yet on a Legal Services Charter but finalising it was urgent, the Justice Department said on Friday (18 Aug, 06). "There has been general acceptance of a certain number of issues," said director general Menzi Simelane. He was speaking after a two-day consultative conference with the legal profession in Sandton on the charter.

Simelane said the department would now travel around the country to consult the legal profession further, then redraft charter details, although its principles were unlikely to change. "The deadlines are yesterday because the impact is today," he said, but did not give a timeline for the process. "There is great urgency, this should have been in place long ago, it's long overdue."

Long overdue indeed.  The question is "how much longer is this going to take?". Give us a timeline and deadline, or don't do it at all!

And if you think this is a procedure and delay, take a look at the next article.

ICT charter stalls

The last draft of the ICT Charter was in May 2005 and it was a fantastic document, one that really had a handle on the ICT industry (I come from an IT background so I understand this industry).  And now.......

The ICT sector's empowerment charter has been with government for a year, where it seems to have disappeared into obscurity.

The report suggests that no-one is driving it.  Sad this actually, if there was an industry that needed a charter it has to be the ICT industry.  IT skills are sorely lacking in SA - hence some companies importing Indian skills under JIPSA.

What then is the reason for these delays?  I am sure that a major percentage of the blame must land firmly on the government.  The generic codes have really taken their time in coming out.  There is a humour in the fact that they themselves are investigating the slow progress in BEE. Business Day ran a story last week (State to investigate slow progress in BEE) stating that "government is to investigate black business’s complaints about the snail’s pace of black economic empowerment (BEE) and plans to hold a top-level indaba with black business leaders before the year-end to discuss the achievements to date." 

Oh my - a meeting about a meeting about a meeting about a caucus about a policy about a budget about another meeting. 

All we need is finalisation - arrange the indaba for a year's time where the progress of the BBBEE codes of good practice can be evaluated.

Legal charter continued

Brigitte Mbandla spoke at the justice department's conference yesterday.  The Business Day's report doesn't really say anything more than we expected.  Rhetoric abounds “We cannot create equal opportunity in a climate of systemic inequality unless we take special measure to bring about equity.” 

The report is scant on actual actions that are going to be taken - just a recommendation that the government COULD IMMEDIATELY allocate 50% of its legal work to black lawyers.

And

The conference SHOULD look at the role of state attorney’s office, government departments and state-owned enterprises, which were all guilty of not providing legal work for black practitioners.

(The uppercase words are my emphasis - question is, will they?)

The legal charter is going ahead though, it will probably be very similar to Codes of Good Practice, as most charters tend to be these days.  There are some unique legal features "The draft charter proposes that the pro-bono work system envisaged by some commentators in the legal profession be developed and enhanced. It also suggests that the role of paralegals be recognised and enhanced."

My two cents worth suggests that the legal profession is going to find itself waiting a while to begin the transformation process.   Do we really need another charter, why can't the professions just adopt the dti's codes with a few modifications?

Legal charter coming (Business Day, 14 Aug 06)

Just when you thought there were too many charters another one springs up.  The justice department claims that this charter goes beyond empowerment issues - “It is not one couched in the framework of black economic empowerment legislation only. It also deals with issues of equality and improvement of access to legal services.”

The charter, which is being debated at the justice department's conference this week, will find ways to accelerate procurement from black practitioners, black owned and black empowered enterprises.  (This smacks of narrow-based BEE).  Apparently the government has undertaken to identify, prioritise and target black lawyers, legal practitioners and companies in awarding tenders, briefs and contracts within the public sector. As much as 50% of government’s legal work requiring private practitioners could be allocated to black practitioners by next year.

The problem with these charters is that they take forever to be finalised and this slows the whole transformation process down.  Also the charter has to approved by the minister of trade and industry, and he has a veto right over it in terms of the BBBEE Act.  So if the justice minister (Brigitte Mabandla) likes it there is no guarantee that it will make gazetting.