A draft Bill, titled the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Bill, has been put before members of Parliament (MPs) serving on the National Assembly Trade and Industry portfolio committee.
The Bill aims to establish a legislative framework for the promotion of empowerment, empower the minister to issue codes of practice to public transformation charters, and establish a Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council.
Members of the committee headed by African National Congress (ANC) MP Rob Davies agreed to send the Bill back to the department for further revision.
One of the controversial sections includes the Constitution and appointment of members of the advisory council. In terms of the Bill it would include the president “and such other members as may be determined by the council’s Constitution”. The president is chairperson of the council, according to the draft.
In a section detailing “codes of practice” the Bill would allow the minister of Trade and Industry to give notice in the government gazette to issue codes of practice on BEE that may include the interpretation and definition of black economic empowerment, qualification criteria for preferential purposes for procurement and other economic activities and indicators to measure BEE.
It also would allow the minister to indicate the weighting to be attached to BEE indicators.
Democratic Alliance (DA) trade and industry spokesperson, Mark Lowe, said laying down legislative rules for BEE would never create sustainable empowerment.
“The Bill completely ignores the fact that, without economic growth of 5% to 6 %, there can be no significant empowerment or transformation, just more unemployment — already at 40% and climbing.”
“Far from sketching just how government proposes to ensure economic opportunities for those disadvantaged by apartheid, this Bill is merely a vague (and very thin) wish list of nice-to-haves, with absolutely no foundation in economic reality. All it does is establish a national advisory council and advocate ministerial discretion on issues of interpretation.
“For the rest, the Bill totally ignores the fact that job-creation, particularly in the small business sector, is the single most important factor that will bring about broad based black economic empowerment and transformation.
“The Bill ignores the key question of financing empowerment, and the DA has serious questions about the Department of Trade and Industry’s capacity to deliver on the pie-in-the-sky aims of the Bill. Until it addresses all these issues, the Bill will remain meaningless.” – I-Net Bridge