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Cape Business News | 14 March 2023 Steinmüller Africa (SMA) has collaborated with Stellenbosch University in a socio-economic development project to support five secondary schools in Mpumalanga. The programme, and our collaboration, has been ongoing since its inception in 2021. Stellenbosch University, acting through its Technology Research Activity Centre (TRAC) has developed the programme to empower Grade 12 learners’ by enhancing their ability to master Physical Science and Mathematics. These two subjects are a gateway to a wide variety of tertiary studies and related bursaries. The collaboration’s focus is to promote the development of human capital and capacity in South Africa. SMA follows through by not only supporting our secondary schooling system with the programme but also offering opportunities and bursaries in various apprenticeships (Mechanical Fitting, Rigging, Welding and Boilermaking) as well as Mechanical Engineering degrees and National Accredited Technical Education Diploma (NATED) courses, respectively. The partnership ensures that Grade 12 learners receive extra afternoon classes in the aforementioned subjects to improve their academic understanding and, ultimately, performance in their matric exams. This is done with the appointment of Physical Science and Mathematics facilitators. In this academic and business joint venture, SMA and TRAC seek to enable and inspire learners to take ownership for a successful future by assisting them to enter appropriate, fully funded higher education courses aligned with their academic potential and interests. “TRAC believes that education is a fundamental tool for social and economic transformation as South Africa’s growth relies heavily on skills in the area of Mathematics. However, the pass rate in this subject remains a matter of grave concern. Through our collaboration with SMA, we aim to not only improve the quality of Mathematics education in the schools where we intervene but, ensure that our learners’ lives are indeed changed. We want to help build a better future for all, by opening up opportunities to the young people of this province and this country. TRAC is indeed instrumental in redressing inequalities of the past by offering opportunities to the most disadvantaged communities in South Africa and, thus, changing lives. We believe in the powerful statement by our late president Nelson Mandela that ‘Education is the MOST POWERFUL tool which you can use to change the world.’ Hence, our bold vision statement – ‘Eradicating Poverty’. Thank you, SMA, for making us an instrument to realise our dream of a South Africa where poverty no longer exists. Together, we are making dreams realities,” said Debbey Olivier, Director of TRAC South Africa at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Engineering. “We are very excited and proud to contribute to the education and empowerment of local potential which opens the doors of opportunity to learners from local communities in our area of operations. This initiative is proving successful to our talent strategy by focusing on secondary education and developing academic competence in these fundamental subjects needed for technical tertiary studies and apprenticeships,” said Karin Kaempffer, Executive General Manager: Human Capital Management at Steinmüller Africa. “We are in our second year of partnering with the university and our selection results and recruitment efforts are already bearing fruit. SMA would like to invite other potential industry partners to collaborate with us in this educational support project. Our focus on foundational technical competence is needed in combating skills shortages for our industry,” said Leon Botha, Talent and OD Manager at SMA. Enquiries: Karin Kaempffer Executive GM: HCM Steinmüller Africa Tel: 011 8063403 Website: www.steinmüller.co.za ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.cbn.co.za/industry-news/skills-training-development/steinmuller-africa-on-trac-to-empower-local-community-education-and-technical-skills/

Given Majola | 13 March 2023 The BEE Chamber says the transition and focus of returning to office full-time or ironing out work-from-home policies has taken precedence, which has delayed certain companies getting back on board with their B-BBEE strategies. File photo The days of using broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) legislation merely as a compliance exercise are gone and South Africa needs to experience its impact on the ground, Andrew Bizzell, the chairperson of the BEE Chamber, said in an interview last week. One of the key messages to the Chamber’s members last year and in 2023 was that companies must implement B-BBEE initiatives, which have a real impact on black beneficiaries. “Some of the programmes we started during the Covid-19 pandemic are aligned to job creation and skills development. These include bursaries and learnerships and programmes focusing on supplier and enterprise development,” Bizzell said. “Through the implementation of these programmes during the Covid period, we found that there is a strong need for companies to understand their responsibility which is economic growth, empowering the youth, skills development, growth of enterprise hubs – and how they can create an environment to increase the chances of employment. We have great success stories here, this is where the meaningful change and transformation sits,” Bizzell said. The BEE Chamber was established to provide information, support, guidance, services and software to BEE practitioners in response to the introduction of the B-BBEE Commission and related interpretation and fronting practice risk. The institution, which represents BEE practitioners, and had more than 14 000 members in 2020, said it considered 2022 as the official post-Covid19 year. This as the Covid-19 pandemic saw most businesses adopting a-work-from-home policy and finding new ways of working to survive. “The transition and focus of returning to office full-time or ironing out work-from-home policies has taken precedence, which has delayed certain companies getting back on board with their B-BBEE strategies. “It has also posed certain challenges such as companies that have realised that their B-BBEE plans have had to change due to them becoming smaller, therefore, impacting their B-BBEE qualifying criteria as they were large entities in the past. Should the annual turnover drop below a certain threshold, the companies would be classified as Qualified Small Entities (QSE), posing different challenges,” Bizzell said. “After a long period of uncertainty, 2022 was a year of finding your feet again and suddenly there’s a new revived energy for 2023 with companies knowing where they stand and seeking the right information,” he said. The BEE Chamber said it had engagements with new businesses and members to B-BBEE that were asking how to prepare with the market now stabilising after Covid. Foreign national companies are also looking at how to structure their business in order for B-BBEE to become more economically viable and sustainable. As B-BBEE related to access to economic opportunities, even companies that have had to reduce their budgets cannot cut back B-BBEE (programmes) as it impacted their scorecards. Furthermore, the changing environment (legislation, potential fronting practice risks, etc) meant that the internal teams must be kept up to date and had a knowledgeable professional network to refer to, he said. The BEE Chamber said it was also supporting transformation in a holistic way and not solely focused on the B-BBEE scorecard. Companies needed to understand their critical role in supporting the local economy to create jobs. “This lies in upskilling and educating the workforce and youth, and creating enterprises with success stories. We need to support small entities and empower them to grow and develop to create work, deliver great services and, ultimately, employ staff. This is a focus for the BEE Chamber this year,” Bizzell said. Of note, in the B-BBEE Commission's National Status and Trends on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment released in 2020, it found that there was a general decline in performance on management control, skills development, enterprise and supplier development and socio-economic developments, with the slight increase on the ownership element. It said economic transformation remained too static for an inclusive economy and equal society to be achieved in line with the National Development Programme targets. Both the private and public sector measured entities in the main failed to file their reports with the B-BBEE Commission as required, but more showed little improvement in their performance on average, the report said. To improve the pace of transformation recommendations were made that the commission must enforce the adherence to Section 10 of the B-BBEE Act by all organs of state and public entities in terms of the B-BBEE Act, including pursuing cancellation of contracts, licences, incentives and other authorisations awarded without following the prescripts of Section 10 of the B-BBEE Act. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/economy/days-of-using-b-bbee-legislation-as-a-compliance-exercise-are-gone-bee-chamber-f665ae91-a438-4d2b-a719-c50428642676

Mpiyakhe Dhlamini | 13 March 2023 Journalist, Mpiyakhe Dhlamini, explores the negative impact of transformation policies, such as employment equity and Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE), on South Africa’s economy and society. The article argues that these policies, which aim to address historical inequalities, have instead facilitated corruption and perpetuated poverty by pushing out productive people based on arbitrary factors such as race and gender. Despite these negative outcomes, Dhlamini notes that many middle-class supporters of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) remain attached to these policies as a means of revenge against past harms, highlighting the allure of victimhood in South African politics. Find the article below. Transformation at all costs is not worth it. It is not a party capable of governing well but it can remind its supporters that they have been harmed and it can take revenge on their behalf regardless of whether this improves anything in their lives. This is reflected most strongly in the attachment to transformation among South Africa’s middle-classes. This is the holy cow of our politics. No matter how much things may go wrong, among especially the middle classes, few seem to be willing to consider that maybe the attempt to transform our best institutions at all costs is the underlying reason behind the general collapse of all things under the ANC government. The transformation agenda is judged on two things, its intentions rather than its outcomes, and how much it harms/is hated by the racial groups that are the object of its revenge politics. It is a set of policies which are meant to pull down rather than build up, and in that it succeeds brilliantly. It also pulls down those who are the victims in the narrative it weaves. By bringing down institutions, it ensures the perpetual poverty of those it claims to serve. That is why after three decades of ANC rule, the net result is gradually coming to nothing. After a promising early start when transformation was rolled out slowly, all the ANC’s gains are now being unwound. The access to basic electricity, water and sanitation is being undermined by the transformation agenda’s facilitation of corruption. Increasing unemployment Poverty reduction is being undermined by increasing unemployment, even if it has decreased temporarily for one quarter due to the Western Cape, the one province not being run under transformation mania. And in any case, poverty reduction under the ANC was mostly due to social grants. But this is being undermined by the loss of productive people through emigration and the failure of job creation to keep up with population growth. Social grants are increasingly unsustainable, since the tax base is shrinking in spite of the ability of Mr Kieswetter to squeeze blood from a stone. Yet, black middle-class supporters of the ANC are unwilling to contemplate ending the signature transformation policies of employment equity and Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE). The first forces each company to adopt employment equity targets for transforming the demographics of its staff to be more in line with national averages. This ignores the rather obvious fact that skills, interests, talents, and inclinations are not distributed according to national averages. The fact that employment equity targets get more and more teeth over time means that we lose more and more productive people who are pushed out for arbitrary things like their race and gender. This cannot result in efficient, tax-paying businesses, but try telling that to the people who believe that employment equity saved them from racist corporate South Africa. The obvious points raised in any rational mind are firstly: Why would you want to work for a company run by racists? And secondly, if corporate South Africa is generally racist, then this is a competitive edge in the market for black-run companies. We only need to deregulate the market and promote savings and capital formation among black people and they will produce better, more productive companies because they will be hiring only on the basis of merit and not race. Facilitator of corruption The policy of BBBEE on the other hand has been the biggest facilitator of corruption. It commits companies to a scorecard that while not only based on ownership, includes ownership as well as elements such as preferential procurement. Companies can increase their BBBEE score by awarding contracts to black-owned companies for example. BBBEE has teeth because it is a condition of government contracts. The state usually collects 25% of GDP as taxes in the economy, and it issues the currency, which means it spends much more than 25% of GDP through inflation. So doing business with the government is hard to avoid. This is not counting state-owned companies like Eskom and Transnet who often have monopolies for critical parts of the economy. And it’s a self-re-enforcing law because businesses who do business with the state can increase their score by doing business with other private entities with a high BBBEE score. It also has teeth through being made a condition of state concessions such as mining licenses. BBBEE facilitates corruption because the politically connected have a first-mover advantage when it comes to BBBEE. They are always ready when new changes to BBBEE legislation are made, due to their connections with insiders. These insiders also have preferential access to the particular BBBEE and other tender requirements for state contracts. These are some of the reasons why this policy has tended to empower those aligned to the ANC and has driven inequality among black people to be greater than inequality between whites and blacks, for example. All of this has made life worse for South Africans of all races, and yet the commentariat as well as many members of the black middle class, some of whom don’t support anything else about the ANC except these policies, still believe in it. The allure of victimhood is too strong for these people even if it drags all of us to hell, as long as those damnable whites burn along with us. *Mpiyakhe Dhlamini is a programming tutor and writer. He is also a policy fellow at the IRR. He believes passionately that individual liberty is the only proven means to rescue countries from poverty. The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend, the IRR or BizNews. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.biznews.com/sa-investing/2023/03/13/dark-side-transformation-revenge-politics-harming-sa

Thank you for attending the session we hope to see you again soon. for upcoming events follow this link https://www.bee.co.za/training

Michael Bagraim | 13 March 2023 Michael Bagraim writes that one of the most pressing issues arising from the destruction of employment creation in South Africa is the need to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses. In concluding his recent Budget speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said: “Uncertainty is on the rise”. Godongwana called for bold action, but did not provide any time constraints or a proper bold way forward. As seen in the State of the Nation Address, there are no timelines or deadlines. The portfolio committee on employment and labour met on February 22 to discuss the possibility of unpacking the State of the Nation Address (Sona). Once again, this committee did not indicate any deadlines on anything. I specifically asked the Employment and Labour Minister and the Director General of the Department of Labour to put some timelines on some of the issues they were discussing. There was a loud silence from them. One of the most pressing issues arising from the destruction of employment creation in South Africa is the need to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses. One proposal arising from the Sona was to exclude small businesses employing between one and 49 employees from implementing affirmative action measures. This is applaudable and will likely reap results almost immediately. However, this issue is merely a proposal and, once again, has no deadline. We cannot afford to wait years. Furthermore, it has been proposed that small and medium enterprises will only be required to comply with Chapter 2 of the Employment Equity Act, which deals with the prohibition of unfair discrimination in employment policies and practices. The real question is when will this be implemented? These two proposals regarding the Employment Equity Amendment Bill are good and need to be applauded. Unfortunately, our government does not have a timeline and is notorious for not implementing any proposal that might irritate the trade union movement. The frequency and duration of load shedding has substantially worsened over the past three years, leading to enormous retrenchment programmes across the country. The Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has recognised this and has asked for more budget to handle future retrenchment disputes. With the enormous weight of a possible 6% increase to the civil service budget, the ministry will be hard-pressed to find even a small amount of money to help the CCMA in its vital duties. The CCMA stated that “as a result of the Sona not providing any tangible solution to improve the status of the economy in the labour market, it is anticipated that there may be a negative impact on the CCMA's job-saving initiatives”. In essence, a government department has recognised the Sona did not provide any tangible solutions. It appears the Sona was just a bunch of futuristic wishes with no solutions. We are all facing the possibility of instability in the labour market, leading to the likelihood of increased industrial action. This statement comes directly from the CCMA report to Parliament. The criminal mob behaviour that took place in KwaZulu-Natal will likely be repeated throughout the country. At times like this, we need an entity like the CCMA to help prevent disputes and workplace arguments. The CCMA has proven in the past that it can at least intervene in industrial action. Finally, we are still experiencing enormous problems with the Unemployment Insurance Fund. The administration is still weak and dysfunctional. As we move forward with this electricity crisis, more and more people are being retrenched and are added to the UIF claimants queue. The queues are getting longer, and the administration is getting weaker. It is time for the Department of Employment and Labour to hand over the function to another administrative body completely. * Michael Bagraim. ** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/opinion/reduce-the-burden-of-regulations-on-small-businesses-03a07fda-e036-4ea7-acdf-a716a882f55a

Justice Malala | 13 March 2023 Every so often, something good happens to you. You know, the kind of thing that restores your faith in our country and its people. Something that reminds you that we are resourceful and dedicated and can overcome great hardship. That thing, that ray of sunshine, came across my life last week. Last Wednesday I was asked to participate in a discussion at Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, a unique, not-for-profit organisation based in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, but operating across the country (and now also in Rwanda). As I walked into their offices, a young man rushed up to me and introduced himself confidently and enthusiastically: “I am Sandile. I’ll be showing you around today.” I have known of Harambee since its inception some 12 years ago. I have known of its successes for years. I have friends who have worked there, and I have sat in seminars where people extolled its virtues. I had to experience it myself last week to be as awed as I am with it. Started in 2011 by Nicola Galombik and the Yellowwoods Foundation, Harambee aims to address the persistently high youth unemployment that has bedevilled SA for decades. Its method is simple: connect employers to first-time job seekers by removing barriers to entry for these jobseekers. For example, if qualified, bright, black youngsters are not making headway in becoming air stewards because many have not had access to swimming, why not remove this barrier by giving them swimming lessons? How about coding? With the collaboration of the National Treasury in 2012, Harambee sought to place 10,000 youths in their first jobs. It has been more than successful. As Sandile took me around Harambee’s offices last week, he rattled off figures that would make you swoon with admiration and envy. There are now more than 4.4-million work seekers in Harambee’s network. More than 3.5-million work seekers have been helped through advice, help with applications, training, or other means. The organisation has pulled in 4,844 partners ranging from corporates to small businesses to be part of its network of employers, trainers, funders and to play other roles. A staggering R17.5-billion in income has flowed to Harambee beneficiaries. It’s hard work: an average of 64,600 telephone conversations are held every month with work seekers. At least 44,100 of those are outbound — Harambee advisers calling individuals to resolve a problem. Every adviser or guide handles more than 3,500 chats a month. Here is the killer statistic: Harambee has linked 928,000 work seekers to opportunities since its formation. That is nearly one-million young people who have been positively impacted by this one organisation’s work. It was while I sat at Harambee that it struck me that, even as we grapple with the many problems we face (and there are very many), there is another country. It is a country of builders, not destroyers. It is a country of dreamers who have not stopped dreaming, but have stepped over to putting brick on brick in pursuit of their dreams. It is our country. Harambee is a bright spark of excellence. It shows we can harness our talents and create opportunities for many. It shows we can do something about the horrendous challenges — primarily poor growth, poverty and unemployment — that we face. Here is an organisation that has helped nearly a million people into jobs. Yet, does anyone know who the founders or bosses of Harambee are? They work steadily, in dedication, without seeking fame or fortune. As I listened to Sandile, it struck me that we are too obsessed with personalities and not with structures and systems. Harambee has designed and implemented a system that works based on honesty, hard work and innovation — and not on connections or personalities. I think part of our problem in SA is that we have not built excellent institutions. Our government does not work brilliantly, so we rush to think that Cyril Ramaphosa as an individual will save us. He won’t. A constitution that allows him to innovate and yet has the guardrails to keep him in check will do that. If anything can be learnt from recent times, it is that we, the people, are our own saviours. No-one is coming to save us. Certainly not politicians. It is organisations such as Harambee, which open up possibilities of work for young people, that will ultimately turn this country around. The founders of Harambee did an amazing job of building partnerships with small and large businesses, with other civil society organisations, and with the National Treasury, a government department that has for long been a centre of excellence. There is a powerful lesson here for all of us: what might we become if we collaborated in this powerful, non-partisan manner for the betterment of our country? Harambee shows us what focus, innovation, collaboration, dedication, honesty, can achieve. Our government should be learning from these quiet achievers. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.heraldlive.co.za/opinion/2023-03-13-sa-can-learn-from-organisation-that-helped-almost-one-million-young-people-get-jobs/

Staff Writer If done incorrectly, B-BBEE verification can have a major impact on the empowerment status of the organisation and it may either end up with a lower status than expected or face Fronting Practice charges, warns the BEE Chamber. A technical specialist at the BEE Chamber, Mariëtte van Wyk, has a solid understanding of both the Codes and The B-BBEE Act. She says there are two main risk areas to focus on when preparing for a B-BBEE Audit. “A B-BBEE Verification is the validation of the proof of the claim that your company is making pertaining to the level of transformation in your company. If you do not have a good B-BBEE rating, your clients will not be scoring as high on their procurement element scorecard, and subsequently, they might decide to replace you with an alternative supplier. This is one of the reasons why it’s important to look at your Verification and Fronting Practice risks.” These two risk areas are important to focus on when preparing for a B-BBEE Verification, and when they are a priority throughout the year, an organisation will benefit. Verification risk A Verification risk for Rating Agencies relates to the Measured Entity misstating their B-BBEE score and the misstatement not being identified during a B-BBEE Verification. The Verification Manual defines a Verification Risk as ‘The risk that the Verification Agency could arrive at an inappropriate conclusion in determining the scores based on one or more scorecard elements being materially misstated. This is the risk that the scorecard elements are materially misstated prior to verification and the risk that the Verification Agency will not detect such misstatement.’ “A Verification Risk for a Measured Entity is different in that it is the risk that the expected outcome of a verification differs from the final B-BBEE Certificate and Report issued by a Rating Agency as a result of not being able to sufficiently and appropriately substantiate initiatives claimed when submitting a claim sheet to the Rating Agency.” An example would be internal training was claimed but there is no document that substantiates the number of hours spent on training, who the trainer was, or the topic of training. “Although all parties involved in the training can confirm what took place, none are able to provide concrete proof of the factors considered in costing internal training. In such an instance a training register/ logbook would have sufficed as evidence of who was involved, and the time spent.” Another example could be that evidence submitted for Verification confirms that an employee was taking part in a learnership programme during the measurement period. Based on evidence submitted the Rating Agency accepted the claim. Whilst conducting interviews with the employee, the B-BBEE Rating Agency finds out that, even though the employee attended some classes, the training programmes were stopped due to the employee’s high workload and not having time available for assessments or creating portfolios. “In this example the company would have paid for the learnership upfront, meaning the costs were incurred, and they would have received a learnership agreement signed by the relevant parties as proof of enrolment. What they did not consider is that the learner dropped off the programme and therefore does not adhere to the definition of a Certified Learning Programme. After conducting the interview, the Rating Agency would disallow the claim made by the Measured Entity and points would be lost for the learner.” Fronting Practice risk A Fronting Practice is linked to the misstatement of information or a claim. The result of such a misstatement leads to an incorrect score being claimed. The most common example of a Fronting Practice is linked to the Preferential Procurement element and Sworn Affidavits for certain suppliers. An incomplete or incorrectly completed Sworn Affidavit makes the document invalid. If the invalid Sworn Affidavit is being used as evidence of a Suppliers B-BBEE status, it is considered a misstatement of a claim. “It is vital that the team responsible for the collection of Supplier’s B-BBEE Statuses are fully briefed on what a valid B-BBEE Certificate/ Sworn Affidavit looks like as well as which sectors have different requirements or templates relating to Sworn Affidavits. B-BBEE Rating agencies are obliged by the B-BBEE Act to report suspected fronting to the B-BBEE Commission for further investigation.” Another example would be incorrectly classifying individuals as Black. When classifying an individual as Black, the definition of Black per the B-BBEE Act needs to be kept in mind. South African citizenship does not automatically result in a person being Black for B-BBEE purposes. As per the B-BBEE Act, the Definition of “Black People” is as follows: “black people” is a generic term which means Africans, Coloureds and Indians– (a) who are citizens of the Republic of South Africa by birth or descent; or (b) who became citizens of the Republic of South Africa by naturalisation- (i) before 27 April 1994; or (ii) on or after 27 April 1994 and who would have been entitled to acquire citizenship by naturalisation prior to that date “Ensuring that individuals responsible for gathering evidence and submitting claims to your B-BBEE Rating Agency is competent to identify the various risks, is key in mitigating the B-BBEE Verification risks described above. And in instances where competent resources are not available, it is best to outsource the verification preparation function to a team of consultants,” concludes Van Wyk. The BEE Chamber is a group of specialised B-BBEE consultants and advisors offering support to build its clients’ B-BBEE practices to a level of excellence by using the tools of continuous support and engagement. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://kznindustrialnews.co.za/two-key-risks-to-focus-on-when-preparing-for-a-b-bbee-verification/

Given Majola | 6 March 2023 South Africa’s Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA) Archives Political instability, frequent changes such as South Africa’s recent greylisting and the power crisis has created reluctance among potential investors to invest in the country, says Andrew Bizzell, the Chairman of the BEE Chamber. The consultancy, which provides advice to help deliver improvements in B-BBEE business strategies, monitoring and implementation, and to help businesses to grow their B-BBEE score performance, said that currently there appeared a willingness to invest, but they (potential investors) needed the surety and security of a stable economy, thus some businesses may hold back. Bizzell said there were those who were optimistic, but there were also the boards of companies that were waiting to see how it rides out. He said there was “investment noise, but a wait and see approach.” “Typically, the recovery post-Covid happened fast for some, slow for others, so we have seen some businesses are willing to invest if they are in a cash recovery position. Others have been holding back, cutting costs and waiting. Some of these had to keep investing in development no matter if they were under economic pressure or not,” Bizzell said. Andrew Donaldson, senior research associate at the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit of the University of Cape Town concurred that political instability around key policy issues contributes to negativity in the business investment environment. “It is difficult to quantify the impact, but South Africa’s economic growth is clearly lagging the rest of the world and several analysts expect there will be a recession (negative growth) this year,” Donaldson said. He said Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana recently tabled a budget that assisted in stabilising the public finances while resolving Eskom’s debt problem. “But an improved business climate requires more than this - the president (Cyril Ramaphosa) needs to give assurance that relations with our international investment and trade partners remain sound and that economic recovery will be prioritised.” Hugo Pienaar, chief economist at the Bureau for Economic Research at Stellenbosch University, said that when there was even a perception of political instability, or constraints on economic growth and challenges in the business environment, investments will be inhibited, especially those of new capacity. “If the costs of doing business are high, for example, a company needs to spend more money on securing its assets and ensuring employees are safe, needs to spend extra costs for power and struggles with municipal services, all these constraints contribute to weaker economic growth,” Pienaar said. He said potential investors would then feel that there is little incentive to invest more. Pienaar said this could mean that demand for their goods and services is depressed and they would have to spend more just to maintain their existing operations. Chief economist at Old Mutual Investment Johann Els said there was a strong willingness in the private sector to invest in the South African economy, especially the country’s energy sector as there were significant investments in electricity generation. “The private sector is willing to invest in energy and that will substantially lower risk of load shedding as we get more electricity from the private sector online whether through self generation, imports that Eskom makes from other countries buying up extra power, but also the private sector putting up solar panels on their roofs, etc. There is significantly lesser load shedding risk a year or two from now,” Els said. He said if there is electricity available two or three years from now, investors who want to make money would still invest since some of these investment projects have long lead times. “You have to invest now to start producing two or three years from now.” Els said he, however, thought that there was a confidence crisis in the economy. “Everybody is very negative with regard to load shedding and seemingly some political inaction. We need to do more, it has taken a long time to get some regulations from the State of Disaster. It is taking longer still to get the new Minister of Electricity. It’s these seemingly inactions or slow action to the crisis that makes consumers and businesses be less confident about the future.” Els said he thought that there was an opportunity to change that as he thought that gradually the country would have less load shedding. He said the significant private sector investment in energy meant there would gradually be more in other sectors/areas of the economy. He said the private sector was looking more into the medium term. “I do not think we have seen lots of policy action that will actually continue to lift medium term growth prospects. We have seen government policies change significantly by embracing the private sector. Not only in energy but other logistical areas like transport, ports etc. There has been lots of action, I think there is lots of action that will change the growth trajectory to more better, stronger and sustainable economic growth. That is what foreign investors want,” Els said. “However at the moment there is a confidence crisis and for some people it is difficult to see through that. The underlying picture is changing and one of those areas is the fiscal environment with the significant reduction in fiscal risk that will especially help foreign investors to be more positive about the economic outlook of the country. If foreign investors are willing to invest in South Africa, local investors will invest as well. Maybe we do have a confidence crisis in the short term, I do not think it will last. We will gradually see an improvement in electricity supply and that will help. For some people it is difficult to see through the noise but I do think there are a lot of potential positives.” ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/economy/investors-may-be-reluctant-to-invest-in-sa-893a3e9e-a6ea-4c42-8aa8-230bacbbafa5

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Zama Ndosi Cele | 10 March 2023 A team discussing business solutions at a meeting. Picture: Unsplash According to ASATA, the business incubator aims to further strengthen and streamline the tourism sector’s B-BBEE transformation agenda in an impactful manner as it recovers from Covid-19 while also offering enterprise and supplier development services to ASATA members. CEO Otto de Vries said the organisation had identified the need for an industry-led business incubator to build and further strengthen South Africa’s travel and eventing industry, particularly in a post-Covid environment, as tourism is a backbone industry and an integral player in our national economic recovery. “By aggregating investment spend,, ASATA can have a much greater impact on the travel industry, while increasing transformation buy-in and reach,” said De Vries. He said that the association’s business incubator will be established as a non-profit arm to enable members to earn enterprise development (ED points) and supplier development (SD points) towards their B-BBEE scorecard in an effort to drive transformation that will have far-reaching benefits across the industry. “We aim for the business incubator to be industry-led, so that staff can be part of the beneficiary selection process and transformation journey led by their employers. ASATA can also nominate beneficiaries on a business’ behalf with some guidance as to the intentions of their transformation spend,” added De Vries. ASATA members will help sponsor up to 60 beneficiaries per financial year at a cost of R95 000 (excluding VAT) and provide custom-made (needs based), programmes suited to each of the beneficiaries and their businesses, for a period of one year (aligned to the financial year -end of the funder). It will allow travel businesses the flexibility to contribute towards the transformation of a number of small-, medium- and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) that are at least 51% black- owned, rather than channelling their transformation funds to a single organisation. ASATA has also revealed that it partnered with Sigma International, a level 1 B-BBEE company, to launch its travel business incubator. Sigma International has already established similar tried-and-tested business incubators for the Department of Tourism and a number of large industry stakeholders across various sectors such as tourism, mining and forestry and paper. According to Sigma International CEO and co-founder Akash Singh, their six other travel incubators have already impacted 258 beneficiaries, big and small, across the entire tourism value-chain nationwide. “We hope that once ASATA’s business incubator gains traction we will be able to welcome even more beneficiaries in the following financial year,” said Singh. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.iol.co.za/travel/travel-news/asata-to-launch-business-incubator-to-strengthen-tourism-development-and-drive-transformation-892e2e83-c3cd-426b-8c17-b5178fff920e

SA News | 10 March 2023 Work is underway to tighten the legislation on public procurement to ensure the mandatory procurement of locally produced and manufactured products in some sectors of the economy, as part of government's effort to address unemployment. This comes as the latest regulations on public procurement do not make mandatory provisions for local content but specify that the procuring organs of state should determine their own preferential procurement policies. “Government spends over R500 billion [a year] on procurement of goods, services and works so we want to leverage that expenditure to assist us in mitigating some of the socio economic challenges we are faced with. Government is the biggest buyer and has strong financial muscle. “We believe that if we support the local manufacturing of products in the country, the manufacturing sector has a broad based capacity to absorb people in terms of labour,” Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) Director Fleet Procurement, Cathrine Matidza, said on Thursday. Addressing a webinar on Improving the Localisation of Digital Products in South Africa, Matidza said government has identified public procurement as a lever for industrial development. The webinar was hosted by the department, in partnership with Proudly South African, which is set to host the 11th Buy Local Summit and Expo later this month. The revised Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) regulations, which came into effect on 7 December 2011, empower the dtic to designate industries, sectors and sub-sectors for local production at a specified level of local content. She said the regulations are about giving preference to products that are manufactured within the borders of South Africa in the public procurement system. However, the 2022 preferential procurement regulations do not make provisions for local content but provide for the procuring organs of state to determine their own preferential procurement policies. They came about due to the judgment by the Constitutional Court, which declared the 2017 regulations to be invalid in their entirety. “In the 2017 preferential procurement regulations, local content was mandatory. The current regulations are silent with regard to local content but that is not to say local content has been scrapped off in the public procurement system. “Local content can be included in the preferential procurement regulations or when organs of state invite tenders which stipulate such requirements. Previously it used to be mandatory but now it is upon the organ of state to stipulate such requirements,” Matidza said. She said the 2022 regulations are for the interim and they are going to be implemented for a limited time whilst government is finalising the Public Procurement Bill. “Local content is going to be mandatory again. The objective of localization, the intention is to reduce import leakage in government spending. We want to leverage public expenditure to support local manufacturing or products. “It is used to protect local industry against imports and in some instances it is aimed at reviving threatened manufacturing capabilities and to scale up utilization of existing capacity. It is all about jobs. South Africa is faced with the challenge of unemployment,” Matidza said. She said all the products are designated at a particular threshold and depending on the capacity and the level of content of the product itself, some are designated at 100% where no imports are allowed at all. Others are designated at below 100%, meaning manufacturers are allowed to source some of the components from somewhere else but the production must happen locally. The designation is informed by the research that is conducted by the dtic. Matidza emphasised that local content is still government policy as organs of state are empowered to continue implementing the designations. “As we are finalizing the Public procurement Bill, designation is going to be part of the new public procurement act. Once it is enacted, it is going be compulsory,” she said. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/government-tighten-legislations-procuring-locally-produced-products

Nonhlanhla Ndlovu | 10 March 2023 South Africa - Cape Town - 24 August 2022 - Unemployment. SAFTU, COSATU, and various other union groups marched to the Civic Centre and Provincial Legislature over the worsening socio-economic conditions for the working class and the marginalised poor communities. Photographer: Armand Hough. African News Agency (ANA) Johannesburg - Gauteng residents continue to suffer greatly even after South Africa has been greylisted as food and electricity prices rise sharply, as do rolling blackouts and high levels of crime and corruption. For the fourth quarter of 2022, our unemployment rate has slightly risen, and there are 599 000 discouraged job seekers and 599 000 more economically active residents. DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Economic Development, Nicola Du Plessis, said the party would continue to work on exposing criminal acts such as fraud, bribery, and abuse of power that directly impact residents in the province. “Our unemployment rate appears to be rising, and there is no government intervention to improve the situation. “We will keep demanding that all government officials found guilty of corrupt activities face the full might of the law.” She said earlier this year that they raised concerns about corruption in the public sector. “According to the report by Corruption Watch of 2022, the Analysis of Corruption Trends indicated that in the public sector in Gauteng, corruption was reported in the following categories: 27% are bribery or extortion; 21% are abuse of power; 19% are fraud; 18% are dereliction of duty; and 15% are misappropriation of resources. “Given our current greylisting, it will become more difficult for our national and provincial governments to attract investors and secure loans to help grow our economy. “It is clear that the current government is incapable of clamping down on corruption and maladministration, mismanagement of funds. A DA government will ensure that we act immediately on allegations of corruption and bribery in the public sector,” said Du Plessis. Gauteng residents spoke to The Star yesterday, expressing the impact greylisting will have on the economy, especially for the youth. Resident Silindokuhle Mncube, 24, said she had been applying for jobs and internships last year and was supposed to have been called by now, but since the country has been greylisted, she doesn’t have hope anymore. “The internships I applied for last year were supposed to have commenced by now, but no one has been called from those we have applied with. “And now there’s this issue of greylisting, meaning that there is a high possibility that we might not work this year because I believe most companies will be forced to close down, and some will have to retrench as investors have started pulling away from South African companies.” She added that the rolling blackouts also had a great impact on job losses, which will add to the rising number of people who are unemployed. “I really don’t think our country will recover from this; by the look of things, it is only going to get worse. The current government must look for other alternatives to save the country and act fast because Western people will come and claim to save us and then turn on us like they did during apartheid,” said Mncube. Another resident, Moses Mukwevho, 29, said that though he does not really understand the greylisting, he can clearly observe and conclude that SA is falling apart and needs urgent rescue. “Unemployment will continue to affect black societies greatly because we are deprived of opportunities, and the system does not favour us. “The government stated that the requirements for employment were a matric certificate, but when they saw that people were passing matric, they said you needed a tertiary certificate, and when they saw that people were excelling, they said you needed at least two years experience.” He added that this system really doesn’t make sense, and we might think that we are not oppressed, but I truly believe that we still are, and it has to change. “This greylist will have a negative impact on the development of the youth, not just on companies and the economy,” Mukwevho said. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.iol.co.za/the-star/news/gauteng-residents-suffer-in-the-grey-cf3a9415-03ed-4164-8b30-cde3b82a679b