The two day summit on Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) was concluded on Friday, 4 October 2013 at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand. The summit was attended by hundreds of stakeholders from various sectors and was officially opened by President Jacob Zuma.
In his address, President Zuma told the participants that B-BBEE is an integral part of South Africa’s economic policies and transformation, and that it was also part of a broader objective of promoting inclusive growth and economic development.
The summit tackled issues relating to the role of parastatals and State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in merging industrialisation and B-BBEE, the alignment of Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) and B-BBEE, SOEs and Enterprise and Supplier Development, Black Industrialists and localisation as well as access to finance.
During the summit, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies also unveiled the revised Codes of Good Practice. The codes which highlight promotion of enterprise and supplier development as the key area for transformation will be gazetted on Friday, next week.
“We are pleased to unveil these codes at this summit which is indicative of our commitment to transform the economy of our country and ensure that the scales of the economy are balanced to benefit everyone,” said Davies.
Davies said the new codes will alleviate the financial burden on small black owned companies as they will no longer be required to be rated by empowering agencies in order to prove their credentials.
Currently, black owned companies have to pay verification agencies to be rated in order to be B-BBEE compliant. Closing the summit, the Director-General of the Department of Trade and Industry, Mr Lionel October said the summit was a great success.
“We had a very successful summit which tackled very critical issues relating to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment during these past two days. The discussions were very fruitful and we believe that the outcomes of this summit will assist us in taking our country forward in terms of transforming the economy,” said October. October said the good turnout at the summit was of great significance and it has demonstrated how the various stakeholders have taken the issues seriously.
“This has really shown commitment from all sectors in taking the country forward,” he added. Small businesses from the various provinces were also given the opportunity to showcase their products to the public and participants during the summit.
