With the occurrence of the Covid-19 epidemic and the lockdown of South Africa, many companies will be considering ways in which to restructure their organisations in order to reduce costs (including retrenching employees). These measures (as well as others) may have an impact on Major B-BBEE Transactions which have been previously registered with the B-BBEE Commission. 

“For example, if a company undergoes a mass retrenchment of its staff complement as a result of Covid-19, this may have a negative impact on its Skills Development element, which (if it meets the relevant threshold) will need to be notified to the B-BBEE Commission,” says Kendall Keanly a Director at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s Corporate and Commercial practice. 

Keanly explains that in June 2017, the Department of Trade and Industry published a notice in the Government Gazette (DTI Notice) stating that all major broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) transactions with a transaction value equal to or exceeding R25-million should be registered with the B-BBEE Commission.

Submitted by Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr