Firstly, we at Thrive Corporate Advisors would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. We trust that you will all have a prosperous year ahead.
As we enter 2018, we enter a year in which B-BBEE will certainly be attracting a lot of attention. We have a few new charters that have been released over the past few months (Amended FSC, Construction and Agri Charter) which will certainly impact many businesses, either directly -if companies fall within these sectors or indirectly – should a company have suppliers within these sectors. Cyril Ramaphosa is also the newly elected ANC president with a lot to prove to the South African public. He will certainly have a project plan to drive transformation within all sectors of the economy.
It is therefore of utmost importance that you understand the impact these new charters will have on your procurement. Assessing one’s list of suppliers and how volatile any changes in B-BBEE recognition Levels of those suppliers are on your B-BBEE rating is therefore very important. As Charlie Batch said, “Proper preparation prevents poor performance”. Preparation is the most important aspect of successfully implementing a BEE strategy.
An example can be demonstrated by applying the new Construction Codes and what impact this could have on your business. The new construction charter states that in BEPs (Build Environment Professionals) more than 50% of the total ownership held in the measured entity must be held by individuals who are both:
- Professionally registered with any of the statutory professional councils in the BEP environment in South Africa; and at the same time,
- A member of the Executive Management of the measured entity
Where the above clauses are not met a measured entity can only recognize 50% of the Black Ownership of those owners who do not meet the above requirement in their BEE rating. From this one can see that without constantly keeping up with the ever-changing BEE environment it can be quite a daunting task to plan properly in order to achieve certain B-BBEE Recognition Levels. This could mean that a BEP that was previously 51% Black Owned no longer is due to non-compliance with the above requirements.
Thrive Corporate Advisors, through our clients, aim to implement B-BBEE strategies that make both business sense and ensure that the spirit of the B-BBEE Act is being carried out. Our solution aims at providing our clients with technical expertise in order to make informed decisions in terms of their B-BBEE strategies. Our goal is to provide assistance to companies that we believe will add value to South Africa through the B-BBEE codes by implementing meaningful symbiotic strategies that aim to assist our clients as well as the intended beneficiary or supplier. This approach means that B-BBEE becomes a byproduct of business instead of a corporate tax to achieve points.
Thrive Corporate Advisors is a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (“B-BBEE”) consulting and advisory firm which assists the corporate sector with all aspects of B-BBEE legislation.
