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Business Unity SA (BUSA) generally welcomes and supports the B-BBEE Amendment Bill. The transformation of the economy, where the majority of the citizens play a meaningful role in the country’s economy, is crucial to the sustainability of our democracy.

BUSA commends the Department of Trade and Industry (the Dti)’s efforts in bringing clarity and also in trying to resolve some of the long outstanding issues with this Bill. We acknowledge as BUSA the importance of B-BBEE policy as an imperative in promoting economic transformation and growth in the country. As BUSA we view the Amendment Bill as far reaching in terms of B-BBEE policy implementation and we think it will change the economic transformation landscape as we know it.

BUSA’s specific summary submissions:

Fronting

• We have long called for the criminalizing of fronting.
• Decisively dealing with fronting will go a long way in speeding up the implementation of transformation in the country.
• The provided definition of fronting is comprehensive, in our view.
• The introduction of penalties is cautiously welcomed but we have to guard against unintended consequences.
• We propose that a Rehabilitation Mechanism for persons and entities who served their sentences and who want to re-enter the system be provided for. There is also a need to ensure that the individual or entity being investigated is not prejudiced while the investigations are taking place.

Verification Agencies
• We would like clarity as to the role of SANAS in “Verification Professional Regulator” as they were included in (d) above but are excluded here.

B-BBEE Verification Professional Regulator
• We support this development as it will also ensure that the verification industry complies with more consistent and objective standards which will ensure benchmarking and standardisation of the methodologies in the industry.
• We also welcome this development as a positive step towards regulating the verification industry.
• We are further of the view that this positive development will open the market and smooth entry of new players and as such bring the much needed capacity to allow as many companies as possible to be verified.
• The regulation of the verification industry will bring consistency and credibility in the verification regime.

Extending the codes of good practice to all organs of state and public entities
• We support this proposal of extending the codes of good practice to all organs of state and public entities as it is aligned with the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act regulations.

BEE Commission
• The introduction of a BEE Commission, with teeth, is an excellent development and is long overdue.
• The monitoring of any national project is crucial and transformation cannot be an exception. There is a need for a comprehensive B-BBEE status report which encompasses all the elements that could give the country and potential foreign investors a feel of where the country is in terms of economic transformation.

The potential impact of the bill on Small Business
• We support the objective of specifically facilitating the benefits to include start-ups, micro and medium enterprises and black entrepreneurs as well as informal black business sector.