Creamer Media Reporter | 7 March 2023 The future is bright for two small businesses from Postmasburg, after 40 of their employees received technical skills training that will significantly enhance their ability execute complex Anglo American projects that they are contracted to and improve their prospects to ultimately acquire new business within and outside the mining industry. The two businesses currently perform construction and civil works at the Kapstevel South Project, a new pit and infrastructure development project at Kumba Iron Ore’s Kolomela operations. Their newly-certified workforces will improve their prospects of securing further work and attract talent, while the individuals themselves are now better placed to further their careers in the construction industry. The training was part of a pilot project by Anglo American’s enterprise development arm, Zimele, in collaboration with Kumba Iron Ore’s Kapstevel South Project team and Tjeka, a private Further Education and Training institution, to build skills and capacity in local businesses. Anglo American Zimele is about creating sustainability in business. It is focused on building sustainable livelihoods in Anglo American’s host communities and on strengthening relationships to create synergies within Anglo American and with broader mining industry partners. The 40 individuals were trained in the areas of manhole construction, painting, paving, and plumbing, for which they have now received NQF 2 (manhole construction and plumbing) and NQF 3 (paving and painting) certifications. Lesiba Malema, owner of Smart Valve, had 11 employees participating in the programme. “The value in the training for us was that it integrated painting, paving with plumbing, which is Smart Valve’s area of specialisation,” said Malema, who participated in the training as a plumber. An earlier training project with Tjeka saw managers, supervisors and key technical staff for suppliers get the skills they needed to deal with complex technical issues related to their construction projects. “By giving local people skills, we’re ensuring that our operations in the area directly contribute to the growth and sustainability of the community,” said Janus van Zyl, Assistant Project Manager for the Kapstevel South Project. Anglo American Zimele’s focus is on building sustainable livelihoods in the company’s host communities. It also offers a loan funding programme and helps create market linkages for enterprises participating in its enterprise, supplier and youth development programmes. It helped facilitate around R2.8 billion worth of contracts and purchase orders in 2022 alone, bringing the total since 2018 to R6.11 billion to SMMEs from around Anglo American’s host communities in Limpopo, North West and Northern Cape. Zimele’s technical enablement programme runs alongside its three main coaching and mentorship programmes: Enterprise development, through greater mentorship and by increasing the pace of economic development around Anglo American’s operations; Supplier development, by leveraging Anglo American’s existing inclusive procurement spend and by helping host community suppliers access new markets; and Youth development, through training for relevant skills that make economic opportunities more accessible for young people in host communities. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/local-businesses-set-to-soar-after-employee-upskilling-programme-2023-03-07/rep_id:4136

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

Tania Govender | 6 March 2023 This year has seen South Africans suffer with load shedding every day so far, with no end in sight for the foreseeable future. The economic impact is undeniable – many Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) have been left unable to cope with the frequent and unpredictable power outages. Downtime, disruption to business, damage to equipment from power surges, and an increase in crime are just a few of the impacts being felt. Businesses are looking at all available avenues to optimise their expenses to curb rapidly rising costs. As labour is typically a business’ biggest operating cost, job losses loom as companies look to downsize or reduce operating times. Surviving this trying time will require innovative and flexible staffing solutions, and a Temporary Employment Services (TES) provider may be perfectly positioned to be of assistance. Handling the crisis The economic impact of load shedding is massive. Energy minister Gwede Mantashe has said: “It is estimated that load shedding costs the economy about R1 billion a day.” Production costs increase, which means that the cost of products increases and these costs are then passed on to consumers, which can in turn impact sales. With no immediate relief on the horizon, and with many SMMEs unable to afford alternative power solutions, other avenues need to be explored. This often takes the form of reduced shifts or reduced staff numbers to minimise fixed overhead costs. However, it can be resource-intensive to effectively manage the scaling up and down of a workforce in this manner. If it is not done correctly, and in line with labour laws and guidelines as well as in consultation with affected communities, the impact on business can be detrimental. Job losses are a real possibility, however, TES providers can step in and help to mitigate this risk with more flexible employment solutions. The value of TES In light of these challenges, it has become essential for companies to find solutions that can help provide some financial relief. One area that can be of significant benefit is introducing flexibility in staffing supply, which allows businesses to pay only for staff supplied as and when their services are needed. This can help businesses to cope with unpredictable load shedding schedules. Furthermore, it is the added value that a TES solution can offer that sets it apart. In addition to flexible staffing, a TES provider also covers multiple other services that businesses typically pay separate service providers for, which multiplies both cost and management complexity. A packaged staffing solution can save a lot of money as well as administrative headaches and can make business simpler and more cost-efficient to run. This will include full, detailed recruitment of temporary workers, including screening and verification, so the business will not have to expend time or resources for recruitment and associated costs. The TES partner will also manage a pool of additional workers with the necessary skills and experience so that they can be supplied quickly and when necessary whilst also managing union and/or ward councillor meetings and negotiations Further to this, TES providers can also assist with the management of Human Resources (HR) and Industrial Relations (IR) processes including employment contracts, disciplinaries, counselling, terminations, and attending Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) cases. With a TES partner providing flexible staffing, businesses can have peace of mind that they remain compliant with every aspect of labour legislation. In addition, if employees need to be placed for a short time, a TES provider will be able to offer other employment opportunities within their client base to enable them to supplement their income. TES providers also offer temporary employees benefits that are generally only available to permanent staff, or that SMMEs may not be able to afford, such as funeral cover, medical cover, training and development. Surviving and thriving With the effects of load shedding on revenues and profits, businesses need to be extremely cost conscious. A reputable TES partner provides cost-effective services that can save businesses money, offering a quick solution with a fast turnaround to realise cost savings. On top of this, businesses making use of TES solutions have peace of mind that their employees have a better chance of securing additional work if they are ever placed on a short time. An established and reputable TES provider will offer excellent value for businesses while delivering the flexible staffing solutions that have become necessary for surviving and thriving in an uncertain and tumultuous economic climate. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/to-survive-load-shedding-businesses-need-innovative-and-flexible-staffing-solutions-2023-03-06/rep_id:4136

Terence Corrigan | 6 March 2023 Terence Corrigan writes on the concept of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in South Africa. Journalist Stephen Grootes suggested that unless the country achieves a 5% growth rate, he cannot see an alternative to the current BEE policy. This article argues that Grootes’ suggestion implies that economic growth is unattainable and that it is a magical feat. Corrigan posits that achieving economic growth of 5% would not require magic but instead basic governance structures such as a stable supply of water and power and a manageable level of crime. Further, it highlights that the focus of the government has become the distribution of economic rewards rather than encouraging growth, and it poses the question of whether BEE is the most productive method for achieving growth in South Africa. Growth is not magic, and BEE is not sacrosanct Comments made en passant – which is a pretentious way of saying ‘in passing’ or ‘as an aside’ – can sometimes be very revealing. This occurred to me while looking up an episode of SAFM Sunrise from early November last year. Discussing race-based empowerment policy – Black Economic Empowerment, BEE – prominent journalist Stephen Grootes said that he couldn’t see an alternative to current policy, unless the country ‘magically’ achieved a 5% growth rate. By implication, he thought BEE would be necessary to distribute the very scarce economic rewards in South Africa’s economy in the absence of the rapid expansion of those rewards: apportioning for a few when there’s not enough for all. Expanding the pool of those rewards would be a feat of ‘magic’. It’s an interesting choice of words. Magic suggests the manipulation of reality to the will of arcane forces. It is the intrusion of powers from realms and planes not bound by the laws of nature and in defiance of science. It’s the stuff of fable, mythology and the supernatural. Probably more than anything else, magic is an avatar for the unattainable. To the extent that we may even acknowledge its existence – and I’d be willing to presume that Grootes does not – we see it as something beyond ordinary observation and control. Unknown and unknowable, it is the province of witches and warlocks and superannuated sages standing apart from the pedestrian existence in which most of us move. Economic growth So, what does this imply about the very this-worldly-significant matter of economic growth? To apply Grootes’s metaphor, it is unattainable. More than that, achieving it would demand an esoteric cognition denied to ordinary mortals. And if growth is the stuff of magic, it would follow that South Africa’s current trajectory – its miserly GDP growth rate of 1% or 2% a year (the optical illusion of post-Covid recovery aside) – would be the natural order of things. It is a matter to be accepted and accommodated, inter alia, through policies like BEE. Getting growth going would not in fact require magic. It should not even be especially difficult. That’s at least a start. Last year, Rashad Cassim of the South African Reserve Bank put it to reporters thus: ‘Going from a 1% economy to 3% isn’t rocket science.’ That’s correct. Provided (very) basic conditions are in place. From the point of view of the state, we need something colloquially termed ‘good enough governance’, that is, enough competence to guard against the state becoming a hindrance, and to provide a couple of enablers. A stable (enough) supply of water and power would be one. Keeping crime to a manageable level. Businesses will find a way to do their thing. No incantations necessary. Getting beyond that 3% mark is the tough part, and the necessary one. To quote Cassim again: ‘Unfortunately, 3% gets the economy going, but it will not bring the unemployment down. To get unemployment down, we really need systematic 5% growth every year and that’s a different debate.’ But a growth rate of 5% would not in fact be a feat of magic; indeed, it is a necessity to make inroads into South Africa’s unemployment crisis. Between 2004 and 2007, growth went from 4.6% to 5.4%, a short but illustrative burst of success. Of course, this was spurred in no small measure by a demand for commodities, but the principle holds: where opportunities exist, and where a robust business community is in a position to seize them – both points raising questions about the role of the state to mediate those opportunities and support business – economic activities can expand, with corresponding growth in the demand for labour. Incidentally, it was the National Development Plan, not the Grand Grimoire, that envisaged 5.4% growth over a sustained period. Nevertheless, the failure to get anywhere near this goal might well make it seem unattainable. This is effectively what Grootes was saying. And it should be said that he is no outlier in holding this perspective. With South Africa having experienced well over a decade of lousy economic performance, the idea of ramping up economic expansion must seem like something magical. It’s also more or less the assumption underlying how the ruling party and the government (the greater part of the country’s political elite in other words) approach South Africa’s political economy. Divvying up the rewards Unable to encourage growth, and probably increasingly uninterested in doing so, the government’s focus has become firmly set on divvying up the rewards. What has developed is an apparatus of extraction – intermediaries, fixers, sinecured appointees, 30-percenters, and the like. They represent a common feature of politicised economies, those who have turned political power into pecuniary advantage. This has attached itself to the productive economy, the activities that produce, sell, and distribute things. It is in the latter, the productive economy, that economic growth should be generated; but that is subject to the limits imposed by the former, the extractive system. This is a large part of the reason the country is now faced with the catastrophic failure of its electricity supply, why swathes of local government are governance basket cases, why South African English gifted the language the word ‘tenderpreneur’. South Africa is not an attractive place to do business; that the business community endures is a testimony to its resilience. But resilience is a virtue that ideally should not be required. It’s in this context that the more important question about BEE should be asked. Not whether there is an ‘alternative’, but whether we can afford the system we have. If growth of the order of 5% is an objective, a more productive line of inquiry is whether BEE furthers that goal. If not, it is difficult to justify its existence. BEE is typically described as a means of economic inclusivity, for bringing black people into the economy – which will have the direct and intended effect of expanding the economy as a whole. It’s a policy that seeks to be judged by its intention, and this is often how it is judged. It is interesting that its record is seldom scrutinised. Multiplicity of crises This may partly be because it’s not an easy thing to study. South Africa’s economy is labouring under a multiplicity of crises, of which racial ‘empowerment’ policy may be a factor. With or without such a policy, we’d probably still be in trouble. But the very fact that the country’s economy has signally failed to approach its growth objectives would be reason enough to reflect on those policies intended to help it on its way. Yet it seems indisputable that the policy has imposed costs on the economy. Where premiums are paid to ensure the appropriate racial provenance of goods and services, this is inherent in the policy. From time to time, this problem is voiced by prominent people within the state. In widely-reported comments at an event in 2012, Minister Gwede Mantashe called on ‘BEE firms’ to quit seeing the state as their cash cows and to stop demanding inflated prices and providing substandard products. (There’s probably some irony in this…) A more serious problem has been the use of BEE as a tool for extraction. BEE has been a great justification for passing resources to those with appropriate political pedigrees. This has come to be an effective tax on the country and a malign influence on its institutions. Warnings about this were issued back in 2007. As one study – by Daron Acemoglu, Stephen Gelb, and James Robinson – commented: ‘In discussing the benefits of BEE we included the social benefit of the avoidance of populism and noted that individual firms could not benefit from the whole extent to which they helped to provide a social benefit. In addition to social benefits however, there may be social costs of BEE. A clear one is that [Narrowly-Based] BEE via the forging of links between firms and politically connected people may lead to rent-seeking and the introduction of regulations and policies that favour existing incumbents. This can reduce market competition and innovation and it can also distort government policy. This may appear as benefits on firms’ balance sheets because it increases profits, but it is obviously a cost for society and likely reduces economic growth.’ These themes were revisited at the Zondo Commission, which pointed to the manner in which the policy has been used and abused to undermine the common interests of the country. It was clear: ‘Ultimately in the view of the Commission the primary national interest is best served when the government derives the maximum value-for-money in the procurement process and procurement officials should be so advised.’ This brings to mind another remark by Grootes in his broadcast, that the ‘vast majority’ of people benefit from BEE. It’s not apparent how this could be supported, though it certainly contradicts to a substantial degree polling evidence. In fact, IRR polling in 2015 and 2016 asked respondents directly whether they had personally benefited from a BEE deal. Some 14% said they had benefited from an ownership deal, and no more than 12% from a BEE-influenced tender deal. Hardly a majority by any definition. Business think tank SBP found in its enquiries around small business growth that very few small entrepreneurs – this included black people – felt that they had gained much from the policy. It was in fact an encumbrance on their businesses. Rhetoric aside, it offered very little to small businesses. William Gumede, Associate Professor in the Public and Development Management Department at the Graduate School of Business Administration at Wits University, has argued that BEE deals had transferred some R1 trillion. But this, he said, had been to the benefit of ‘a handful of politically connected politicians, trade unionists, and public servants.’ Far from expanding the economy, this ‘had crowded out genuine black entrepreneurs and killed the development of a mass entrepreneurial spirit in black society.’ In this view, the policy is not only failing to help, but is positively damaging to the country, its people and its prospects. It contributes to putting that 5% growth rate out of reach. There is nothing magical about this, merely the logical outcome of policy choices and their implementation. Perhaps the only magic being cast around this issue is the dogged faith that BEE is sacrosanct and cannot be abandoned or even substantively reformed. *Terence Corrigan is the Project Manager at the Institute, where he specialises in work on property rights, as well as land and mining policy. A native of KwaZulu-Natal, he is a graduate of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermaritzburg). He has held various positions at the IRR, South African Institute of International Affairs, SBP (formerly the Small Business Project) and the Gauteng Legislature – as well as having taught English in Taiwan. He is a regular commentator in the South African media and his interests include African governance, land and agrarian issues, political culture and political thought, corporate governance, enterprise and business policy. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.biznews.com/thought-leaders/2023/03/06/south-african-economic-growth-feat-magic

Sunday World | 6 March 2023 President Cyril Ramaphosa's first SONA speech promised a new dawn for South Africa. / RSA Parliament South Africa has faced leadership challenges over the years, even dating back from the Mbeki, Zuma and now Ramaphosa eras. However, the crisis of political leadership in South Africa has certainly spiralled out of control, with a myriad challenges, ranging from abuse of power, corruption, and to lack of accountability, to mention but a few. The current national gloom occasioned by perceived lack of response to unemployment(especially among the youth), searing poverty, obdurate inequality, rampant crime, and worsening corruption, is a plea for caring, empathetic and responsive leadership. Good leadership by our political leaders and the ability to make the country work for us should correlate. However, the poor ability to do this by our current political leaders has come to the fore over the past years. During the past decade or so, numerous negative political forces have conspired to frustrate or hinder the country’s socioeconomic development. Among these are bureaucratic party structures, mounting national debt, flawed parliamentary democracy, party factions, deployment misplacing employment, political leadership that excels in elaborate plans but short on implementation, moral decline caused by political patronage, and, most importantly, government officials who fail to do the right thing, always. When President Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in as president of the Republic in 2018, he spoke of a “new dawn” in his first state of the nation address, which perhaps meant saving the country and working towards a better South Africa from what he found it to be following the previous Zuma administration. The president went as far as quoting the late Hugh Masekela’s song “Thuma mina” (send me), which highlights self-sacrifice, individual responsibility, and the importance of personal change in mindsets. This was a way for Ramaphosa to galvanise citizens and the nation to action and rebuild the embattled nation. It is now six years later and looking at the country, the president is certainly yet to fulfil his promises of a “new dawn”. Leadership is the ability to act morally right. Songezo Zibi in his book titled Manifesto – A new vision for South Africa describes moral leadership as “when a leader, political or otherwise, chooses consistently to try to do the right thing in their chosen role. “In their private life, it is about striving not to do anything so egregious as to offend the public spirit or expectations.” We continue to see the country deteriorate under various political leaderships, more especially of former president Zuma and now Ramaphosa. We have watched a president who is usually slow in action and lacks accountability. Some issues relating to this that are top of mind are the recent reports of alleged corruption at the embattled power utility Eskom with no accountability or action taken. Not to mention last year’s Phala Phala burning issue that occurred at the president’s farm. This was followed by an investigation by an independent panel, which has said there exists “prima facie” evidence that the president may have committed and breached anti-corruption laws. Is it not at a time like this when Ramaphosa should be accountable instead of challenging the independent panel’s findings, which was dismissed by the Constitutional Court this week? Recently, Media Monitoring Africa approached the Constitutional Court to compel Ramaphosa to appoint a new board for the struggling SABC. Why does Ramaphosa have to wait and have his hand forced to take decisions on so many pressing issues while the country is in a crisis? Sadly, the current political leaders have proven numerous times to be self-serving and more interested in self-enrichment. Our political leaders are certainly keeping social distance with the masses relating to the commitments they presented when they took power. Do they even care? South Africa is in dire need of firm, decisive leadership. I am of the view that leadership is a direct response to accountability in the area of public administration. In substance, leadership and accountability are both attributional phenomena. As I write this article, I remembered that this week on February 27 marked 45 years since the passing of South African revolutionary, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, who strongly believed that true leadership demands complete “subjugation of self, absolute honesty, integrity and uprightness of character”. Reflecting on the issue of what strong moral leadership would achieve for a country, I wonder if Sobukwe had lived to see this day, what would our nation South Africa look like had we followed his political principles and idea? Looking at the country today, what is Sobukwe’s legacy? As Sobukwe said: “We must, therefore, appreciate our role. We must appreciate our responsibility. The African people have entrusted their whole future to us. And we have sworn that we are leading them, not to death, but to life abundant.” This is what our leaders should be striving for, daily. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://sundayworld.co.za/news/opinion/editorial/our-president-is-too-slow-to-act-and-low-on-accountability/

Given Majola | 7 March 2023 Darkness surrounds residential homes due to a load shedding blackout by Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. in the Troyeville suburb of Johannesburg. The local youth agency said the South African economy was facing multiple overlapping crises including the economic fallout associated with Covid-19, persistent electricity outages, high inflation, food insecurity, high oil prices and growing inequality. Photographer: Dean Hutton/Bloomberg South Africa’s greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, would stifle the country’s ability to do business globally, especially with EU members, says Youth Employment Service (YES) CEO Ravi Naidoo. YES is a business-led collaboration that seeks groundbreaking ways, through innovation and technological best practice, to reignite the economy and give youth a dignified first chance. Naidoo said that the greylisting, together with load shedding, would unfortunately also affect job creation. He said studies showed that greylisting negatively affected capital flows into countries, with consequent effects on economic activity, growth and employment levels. In response to a Business Report media enquiry, Naidoo said that the single biggest way to create jobs was to increase the country’s rate of economic growth. “We have to enable businesses to grow and be profitable. However, this requires an environment in which businesses are confident to make long-term job-creating investments and greylisting will directly impact the levels of investment into our country,” Naidoo said. He said that when it came to fixing the greylisting problem and ensuring South Africa exited it, the country could learn from Mauritius, who were able to have their listing lifted within two years by getting key stakeholders to work together. “Interestingly, many of the challenges we face as a nation, like youth unemployment, also require collaboration. So, essentially, the solution we require to address greylisting is the same solution we need to address unemployment: sustained collaboration between key stakeholders,” Naidoo said. According to Statistics South Africa’s (StatsSA) Quarterly Labour Force Survey, South Africa’s unemployment rate eased to 32.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022, the lowest since the first quarter of 2021, from 32.9% in the prior period. The number of unemployed persons rose by 28 000 to 7.753 million, the employed increased by 169 000 to 15.934 million and the labour force went up by 197 000 to 23.688 million. Among sectors, finance (+103 000), private households (+54 000), trade (+52 000) and transport (+43 000) posted the largest job gains, while community and social services (-122 000) and construction and agriculture (-12 000 each) shed jobs. The expanded definition of unemployment, which includes those discouraged from seeking work, was 42.6% in the fourth quarter, down from 43.1% in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers between 15 and 24 years old, rose to 61% in the last quarter of last year, up from an over two-year low of 59.6% in the previous period. NYDA CEO, Waseem Carrim described the greylisting as disappointing for an economy of South Africa’s size and scale. “At a time when the economy is battling challenges on multiple fronts, it is another unnecessary blow,” Carrim said. The local youth agency said the South African economy was facing multiple overlapping crises including the economic fallout associated with Covid-19, persistent electricity outages, high inflation, food insecurity, high oil prices and growing inequality. It said that throughout all of these crises, young men and women continue to be hardest hit - triply exposed by being in jobs that are most exposed to financial shocks, being least covered by social protections such as the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), and facing additional burdens of household duties and unpaid care work that exacerbated economic poverty with time-poverty. “These factors compound, severely impacting their ability to look for work. The greylisting adds to the multiple overlapping crises and deters much needed local and foreign investment which is needed to grow the economy and create jobs at scale.” Carrim said economists have reflected that South Africa has taken a number of steps already to avoid greylisting and that if the country continued down this path, it could exit greylisting in 18 months. “We must continue with structural reforms to fix the economy in areas such as energy, water, ease of doing business and reducing basic education drop-out rate. We must build on the positive work that has been started in Operation Vulindlela. In the interim, public employment programs and the repurposing of the Social Relief of Distress grant are effective mechanisms to cushion the economic challenges being faced,” he said. Reacting to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address last month, Onyi Nwaneri, CEO of Afrika Tikkun Services (ATS), a division of Afrika Tikkun specialising in recruitment, training, placement, and corporate transformation, said increasing the number of employed people, especially young South Africans, was one of the keys to driving development. Even so, Nwaneri said, there has been a pattern of the government saying the right things when it comes to providing this kind of support, but then for some or other reason, it often ends up not being able to fully realise its promises. She said the country’s inability to provide a constant supply of electricity was such an example. Nwaneri said ATS has seen first-hand how job seekers struggle to get placed. “SMMES have taken the brunt of power utility Eskom’s inability to supply electricity, as they have been unable to operate as a result of the blackouts. The impact of the blackouts on SMMES is not only detrimental to these businesses, but also severely caps job growth,” she said. “Skills development initiatives have also been seriously affected as blackouts stall training programmes and make online learning almost impossible. For organisations like ATS, they have had to spend huge amounts of scarce funds on generator and diesel costs,” she said. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/economy/sas-greylisting-and-load-shedding-bane-will-also-affect-job-creation-241f836f-221f-49fd-a606-996433cc85d6

The SANAS Website publishes information on all accredited B-BBEE Rating Agencies, which, apart from the contact details, includes: The unique SANAS accreditation number; The date of SANAS accreditation and the expiry; The status of accreditation, which could include one of the following: Accredited | A B-BBEE Rating agency has successfully passed the SANAS accreditation process and applied to retain its status as a SANAS Accredited B-BBEE Rating Agency. Expired | When a B-BBEE Rating Agency has allowed its SANAS Accreditation to expire. Withdrawn | Where a B-BBEE Rating Agency either voluntarily or involuntarily withdraws its accreditation. Suspended | SANAS has issued a B-BBEE Rating Agency with a serious non-conformance/s regarding their B-BBEE Verification processes and procedures that needs to be addressed. A B-BBEE Rating Agency may retain its accreditation status depending on the result of actions implemented. The scope of Accreditation, which is a certificate that states what code they are accredited to measure. For example, there may be an accreditation allowing a B-BBEE Rating Agency to conduct a B-BBEE Verification on the Generic Codes, The Construction Sector Code and Financial Sector Code. However, without specific accreditation, it would not be able to conduct a B-BBEE Verification on the Tourism Sector Code. Therefore, before choosing a B-BBEE Rating Agency, an organisation must check its Scope of Accreditation to ensure that it can conduct a B-BBEE Verification on the relevant Sector Code. If a B-BBEE Rating Agency conducts a B-BBEE Verification on a Sector Code they are not accredited to measure, the B-BBEE Certificate issued on this basis will be null and void. Support Services are available to guide members on how to select a B-BBEE Rating Agency.

VAT is a Total Measured Procurement Spend (TMPS) exclusion as per Clause 6.1 of Statement 400 of the Amended Generic Codes of Good Practice : “6.1 Taxation: any amount payable to any person representing a lawful tax or levy imposed by an organ of state authorised to impose such a tax or levy, including rates imposed by a municipality or other local government." Therefore, to confirm that VAT is an exclusion from an organisation’s TMPS, it must be recorded as such in its Audited Financial Statements or Financial Statements. Support Services are available to guide members on TMPS Exclusions.

03 March 2023 | Shawn Hagedorn Authoritarianism threatens as long as SA remains one of the worst countries at trickle-down economics. A recent Business Day editorial spoke of an “unacceptably high level of youth unemployment” and how it “is now probably the biggest threat to SA’s stability” (“President must assemble a wartime cabinet”, February 7). Since then Stats SA’s labour force figures for the fourth quarter of 2022 revealed that this figure has increased still further, to an eye-watering 61% of those between 15 and 24 years old. While it is easy to validate the assessment of the threat this poses to SA’s stability, the implications are difficult to confront. Brazil’s unemployment rate is second only to ours among Group of 20 countries, yet ours is twice as high. Worse still, our official youth unemployment rate substantially understates our extreme outlier status. The more telling metric is the portion of our young adults who will be unemployed for so long that they become permanently marginalised. Nearly all of our currently unemployed young adults will eventually fit this description due to our low growth trajectory. Those who are unemployed two years after leaving school still offer youthful adaptability. After another, say, half-dozen years of continued unemployment, this group becomes far less attractive to employers than younger cohorts. Aspirations give way to coping. Pervasive damage becomes permanent. Accepting the implications of our youth unemployment crisis should jolt our economic sensibilities as much as the Gupta email leaks revealed how we had been politically duped. Insights from scholars and journalists helped us then to accept how wide of the mark our perceptions had been. Will we now accept that mineral wealth does not allow us to reject 21st-century development drivers? Will we appreciate that many democratic movements have been vanquished by authoritarianism amid mounting economic grief? While the French Revolution still inspires, its governance innovations were unable to quell the social unrest that then beset France. Rather, dissatisfaction was soon exploited by Napoleon Bonaparte to create a military dictatorship. If, while making national emergencies seem routine, the ANC continues to dominate the Union Buildings after the 2024 elections, is it reasonable to presume the constitution will survive for elections to be contested in 2029? Have the ANC’s leaders not made clear that they prioritise their party’s interests ahead of the nation’s? We can be certain that our youth unemployment crisis will intensify — with powder keg effects — as the ranks of the permanently marginalised bulge. Yet, notwithstanding how easy it was to provoke social unrest in July 2021, many expect the ANC to root out corruption for the next several years and then accept its being dispatched by 2029 voters. Is this realistic? All functioning governments avoid significant youth unemployment for fear of forfeiting political stability. Is the ANC more a violence-prone patronage network than a constitutionally committed political party? Would many of its members welcome a transition from democracy to authoritarian rule? Suspending the constitution would spark international condemnation — mostly among Western countries. But by aligning with anti-Western nations the ANC can reframe the blowback risks. Does this help explain the ANC’s increasing tilt toward Russia and China? A 2029 transition to a coalition government dominated by well-meaning, competent politicians seems alluringly plausible. But there are equally realistic scenarios in which the country’s social cohesion breaks down before then. As five years of a hard-left, ANC-dominated coalition national government would ensure continued low growth, most of our young adults would feel marginalised and cheated. Alternatively, percolating economic agony could make next year’s election a turning point. Yet our economic discourse has lagged. Instead of focusing on powerful solutions, the ANC has succeeded in framing our employment challenges as a moral dilemma between fiscal rectitude and compassionate subsistence payments. This reflects meagre political accountability that traces to social justice emotions having been systematically exploited. It also involves isolationist impulses being indulged despite global integration being central to this economic era. Globally determined success drivers are then ignored to favour vested interests. The belief persists that investment-led growth is viable despite policies that undermine both exporting and domestic growth. When our dissimilar leaders advocate investment-led growth they are saying their interests must be prioritised. This is termed “trickle-down economics”. Our global rankings for inequality and youth unemployment confirm that SA is among the world’s worst countries at trickle-down economics. Our socially destabilising unemployment and poverty trace to inward-focused economic policies amid a deeply integrated global economy. Corruption and incompetent execution are more visible yet, ultimately, less debilitating. We must aggressively pivot to achieve employment-led growth through far greater global integration. This is difficult but doable, whereas the alternatives threaten unacceptable outcomes. • Hagedorn (@shawnhagedorn) is an independent strategy adviser. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’ https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2023-03-03-shawn-hagedorn-as-youth-unemployment-grows-the-powder-keg-swells/

Biznews | 3 March 2023 Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) is partnering with the Henley Business School on a strategic learning partnership to empower select suppliers to the beverage company. The CCBSA-Henley Business School Supplier Development programme kicked off on 1 March 2023 at the Henley Business School. The partnership will see 20 qualifying suppliers attend a 12-month programme at Henley Business School to obtain an NQF-8 Qualification, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice Supplier Development Programme (PDiMPSD). The programme is targeted at suppliers who are at least 51% Black-owned enterprises, exempt micro-enterprises or qualifying small enterprises in line with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Codes of Good Practice. “We are proud to be able to offer our suppliers this qualification to help them develop their businesses further. Entrepreneurs are special in that they are willing to take risks, and through the knowledge acquired during the course, they will be able to enhance their service and goods offerings even further,” says CCBSA managing director, Velaphi Ratshefola. Tools and knowledge to scale By offering entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn additional and specialised business skills, CCBSA hopes they will be able to grow and expand their small and medium-sized businesses. “Our plan is to assist our suppliers to upscale their businesses and grow their annual revenue by increasing their customer base, and in turn generate much needed employment and contribute to the growth of our economy,” Ratshefola adds. Linda Buckley, director for executive education at Henley Business School, comments, “As an institution of higher learning with a footprint on the continent and presence in South Africa, our primary focus with a venture of this nature, is to ensure that small, micro, and medium enterprises can play a meaningful role in the mainstream economy. We are happy and excited to co-create opportunities that will go a long way towards improving small businesses and our country for the better.” The course, which will be offered through online and face-to-face contact, includes Systematic Management Practice, Innovative Wealth Creation, Managing Value Streams and Synthesis and Integration among others. It is open to advanced diploma and bachelor degree graduates, managers with three to four years of middle to senior management experience, technical or other specialists, as well as senior managers with no degree qualification but can register in line with the country’s Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/186/236488.html

Biznews | 3 March 2023 The opinion piece below discusses the role of intellectuals in society and the potential consequences of their ideas and actions. Author Sibusiso Ngwena argues that intellectuals have the responsibility of being purveyors of ideas in an open and free society, but they must also be willing to question prevailing assumptions and follow facts. However, Ngwena suggests that the standards for judging intellectuals are often different from those in other professions, leading to a culture of overreach and catastrophic consequences. Further, examples are provided for the intellectuals who have overreached their expertise in South Africa, from a math professor advocating for economic policy to a health ombudsman endorsing national health insurance. Intellectual overreach can harm If mere mortals are to navigate the ebbs and flows of the world, intellectuals, especially public intellectuals, can play an indispensable role. In an open and free society, their chief role is to be the purveyors of ideas. This skill widens the knowledge pool, enabling individuals and collectives to make cost and benefit analyses. Conversely, intellectuals are also tasked with questioning prevailing assumptions, withstanding coercive pressures from the ruling elite, and following the facts to wherever they might lead. Double standards Our world is partially open and, to a large extent, not free. Different or even double standards are often based on proximity to the ruling class, and/or how loud your megaphone is. If a master builder built a house which collapsed under its own weight, it wouldn’t matter if it was the most beautiful house ever built, that master builder’s reputation would be ruined. This standard is not applicable to intellectuals. This class is mainly judged by what sounds good in theory, and whether other intellectuals agree with them. Ideas with catastrophic consequences are even likely to be rewarded with a promotion and a hagiography after death. Some of them tend to “fail up”, as it were. Human Design F.A. Hayek once said, “The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design”. But unsurprisingly, history is littered with examples of intellectuals who believed they were omniscient, or that they could engineer the “perfect” society, with predictable devastating consequences. The disaster that was the French Revolution was initiated and led by intellectuals. The Russian revolution was spearheaded by Lenin and his intellectual ilk. Some officers in the Nazi war machine held PhDs. The “mother” of modern-day environmentalism, Rachel Carson campaigned against the use of pesticides (DDT) and left a trail of death in poor countries across Africa. Neil Ferguson’s Covid-19 modelling petrified politicians, who adopted reckless policies with cataclysmic consequences which will be felt for a long time to come. South Africa is no exception. The fingerprints of intellectuals are all over the failed and incapable state that South Africa has become. The impressive list of calamities that the country suffers through today is the intellectual’s or expert class’s creation and/or endorsement. The adoption of policies such as BEE, localisation, the Employment Equity Act, and priority public procurement, just to name a few, has enabled the conditions in which rampant pillaging of the public purse, high unemployment rates, high crime rates, and corruption found room to fester. This brings us to current and previous proposals from some prominent South African intellectuals. Overreach In his widely received book, Intellectuals and Society, Thomas Sowell outlines the conceit that bedevils intellectuals, which is that superior ability in a specific field implies superior ability in general. This conceit leads them to pontificate about subjects or areas they know little or nothing about. This overreach is demonstrated by comments made by the following intellectuals: 1. UCT vice-chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng called for a wealth tax to ‘catch well-heeled citizens who are operating under the radar’. Also: ‘The gap between the rich and the poor keeps widening’. Does a PhD in mathematics education give one a licence to publicly pontificate about economic policy? This overreach is akin to asking the government to rob other people on your behalf. Her “Rome” is burning while she fiddles. 2. Health ombudsman, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba strongly endorsed National Health Insurance when he said that ‘the NHI is a necessary evil we must swallow,’ and continued to say that ‘I strongly support it – it will bring health equity’. Why is a medical doctor-turned-bureaucrat publicly advocating for this boondoggle? A single-payer healthcare system managed by the ANC government will only bring equal health misery. He must remember the oath he took. This scheme will harm especially the people (poor) he claims to care about. Clearly, the mess that is the NHS in the UK didn’t teach him anything about socialised medicine. 3. Professor Salim Abdool Karim became the face of Covid-19, with almost daily updates about the virus. His expertise lay in epidemiology and virology, but he saw fit to preach on subjects beyond his proficiency. This he did when he strongly advocated for perpetual lockdowns, banning alcohol sales and other drastic measures in the name of fighting a novel airborne disease. The lives ruined due to his overreach are unknown at this stage. 4. Professor Mark Swilling of the University of Stellenbosch whose PhD is in Sociology calls for a move away from fossil fuels to his preferred ‘clean’ energy sources such as solar, to ensure environmental sustainability and reduce carbon intensity. He veered too far from his area of expertise. I am quite certain that he doesn’t even fathom the costs involved as he has no “skin in the game” as it were. I would challenge him to use his own money and install his preferred energy sources instead of trying to use the government to achieve his desired ends. 5. Other intellectuals who over–stepped include Glen Retief whose PhD is in English Philosophy. The recent Durban floods were enough for him to make an alarming prediction about the future, essentially saying that the country is facing grim future climate conditions unless it invests in ‘infrastructure’. 6.The University of Johannesburg Council which includes Vice-Chancellor Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala was hiding behind ivory tower language such as ‘international and national best practices’ and ‘peer-reviewed literature’ in an effort to steamroll the Covid-19 vaccine mandate in a public institution. The predictable outcome was a protest. For academics to cherry-pick literature so that they can implement their preferences, especially in a partly taxpayer-funded institution, is unequivocally sinister. This overreach might have negative consequences in the long run. Concluding thoughts H.L Mencken once said, ‘For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong’. South Africans should guard against simple “solutions” for complex problems proposed and/or endorsed by people who, as Thomas Sowell would say, pay no price for being wrong. Especially people who veer way outside their knowledge areas into areas they know little and/or nothing about. Leaders seldom apologise for embracing disastrous schemes with deadly consequences and, with intellectuals on hand, even failed schemes can elicit self-flattery. The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.biznews.com/news/2023/03/03/the-costly-consequence-intellectual-overreach

IT Online | 3 March 2023 As of 1 March 2023, South Africans saw the implementation of the increased annual earnings threshold determined by the Minister of Employment and Labour (Minister) in the amount of R241 110.59. This represents an increase of R17,030.11 from the previous amount of R224 080.48, which has been in effect since 1 March 2022. CDH’s Employment Law practice unpacks what this means for employers. The earnings threshold impacts on the application of provisions of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (BCEA), the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA) and the Employment Equity Act, 1998 (EEA). In terms of the BCEA, employees earning in excess of the earnings threshold are excluded from the provisions, which regulate ordinary hours of work, overtime, compressed working weeks, averaging of hours of work, meal intervals, daily and weekly rest periods, Sunday pay, pay for night work and pay for work on public holidays. With regards to the LRA, employees earning in excess of the earnings threshold are not subject to the deeming provision in accordance with which employees engaged by a temporary employment service or labour broker who are not performing a temporary service are deemed to be employees of the client for purposes of the LRA. In addition, employees earning in excess of the earnings threshold fall outside the scope of the provisions relating to fixed-term employees who are deemed to be employed indefinitely after three months (in the absence of justifiable reasons for fixing the term of the contract). Looking at the EEA, an employee earning in excess of the earnings threshold, who has a dispute under Chapter II of the EEA relating to unfair discrimination, is not permitted to refer the dispute to the CCMA for arbitration (unless the dispute relates to alleged unfair discrimination on the grounds of sexual harassment, or the parties all agree to arbitration) and is obliged to refer the dispute to the Labour Court for adjudication. For purposes of determining whether an employee earns in excess of the earnings threshold, “earnings” means an employee’s regular annual remuneration before the deduction of income tax, pension fund contributions, medical aid contributions and similar payments, but excludes similar contributions made by the employer in respect of the employee. This is subject to the proviso that subsistence and transport allowances received, achievement awards and payments for overtime worked do not fall within the scope of remuneration. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://it-online.co.za/2023/03/03/new-earnings-threshold-comes-into-play/