There is no meaningful transformation in the South African auctioneering industry, the South African Auctioneering Transformation Action Group (Saatag) said on Tuesday.
Black-owned auctioneering enterprises account for less than R20-million of the estimated R2-billion revenue generated yearly by the auctioneering industry, Saatag spokesperson Alex Parry said.
”This is less than 1% of auctioneering sales,” she said.
Saatag member Tirhani Mabunda said there is ”little evidence that genuine and meaningful transformation will ever happen”, adding that black people are disadvantaged because the industry is not regulated.
”We therefore request government and the private sector to assist in ensuring proper transformation by procuring services of auction houses that can prove proper empowerment credentials, or are black-owned.”
This, Mabunda said, will enable black people to participate ”meaningfully” in the industry.
Saatag member Balisa Mangxaba said the industry is rife with fronting and lack of proper skills transfer because it is not regulated.
The action group therefore calls for an ”auctioneering empowerment charter”, which it said would help create balance.
”The aim is to establish a statutory body that will act as a watchdog to protect the interests of buyers and sellers,” Saatag founding member Lot Mahlangu said. ”This will ensure that more black people are encouraged to enter the industry on a full-time basis and gain necessary skills to maintain high levels of service to the clients.”
Saatag, which started only with 20 black-owned companies, aims to advance the transformation of the auctioneering industry ”in line with the goals and objectives of government policies”. Its goal is to see more black people playing a meaningful role in the economy. — Sapa