The Department of Trade and Industry will streamline the score card used to measure compliance with black economic empowerment (BEE).

This will include cutting the number of indicators on the score card companies use to indicate their compliance with BEE.

Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said this on Tuesday after a closed meeting with business leaders in Sandton in Johannesburg on the progress towards finalising broad-based BEE codes of good conduct.

He said the government would further release a practitioner's manual and a summary document, which would be easy to read and interpret.

"Thus, the style of language utilised has also been simplified to ensure ease of reading and understanding," Mpahlwa told reporters.

"Government is further committed to make the codes of good practice for broad-based BEE less onerous for small and medium business to comply (with), by providing special dispensation for BEE compliance in these categories."

Mpahlwa also said it appeared that thresholds used to determine the size of companies that could originally qualify for special dispensation were outdated and would result in the exclusion of a majority of intended beneficiary companies.

"As a result of intensive consultations with stakeholders, it appears that there will be an increase in thresholds for both qualifying small enterprises and exempted micro enterprises."

On accreditation and verification, Mpahlwa said that a database by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was formulating and would ensure that mechanisms were put in place for self-assessment, provision of BEE information and facilitation of BEE partners and business opportunities.

"All accredited verification agencies will be linked to this database, so anyone in the economy wanting to verify their BEE status or that of a supplier will be able to access this system through the DTI web site."

Mpahlwa added that the long-awaited BEE Advisory Code would be established immediately subsequent to the approval of the codes by Cabinet, which would be reporting on the status of BEE in the economy on a quarterly basis."

Business Unity SA (Busa) said in a media statement it welcomed the update on the progress towards finalising the codes.

Busa said that during the closed session it had raised such issues as the relationship between the codes and existing sectoral charters; alignment between codes; and various pieces of legislation and instruments currently regulating black empowerment.

Busa had also raised concerns about the complexity of the codes, and "fronting" and other forms of BEE misrepresentation.

"Business realises that there is no alternative to economic transformation, if we do not transform we run the risk of being destabilised by continuous inequalities," said Busa chief executive Jerry Vilakazi.

Sapa

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