“Just like the National Occupation and Safety Act is a law unaffected by COVID -19, so is the Broad – Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (B-BBEE). It is the law, and it is our job to comply”– Bonang Mohale, Chancellor of the University of the Free State - Fin24 20 May 2020
Soon after the Lockdown was implemented by our President Cyril Ramaphosa, a directive was issued by SANAS on the R47-02, giving accredited verification agencies guidance and approval on conducting remote verifications.
This was a massive indicator that in the B-BBEE space, no relief would be afforded to companies whose certificates expired during the lockdown. A B-BBEE certificate is the representation of 12-month proactive process, whereby detailed planning and implementation of strategies takes place, to ensure that all the requirements are met on the B-BBEE scorecard. With the assistance of modern technology, such as Zoom, Google Meet, Skype and MS Teams, the continued engagement with clients to ensure that they are up to date in all respects has been made possible. Strong Wi-Fi and cloud-based access have become our umbilical cord to serve the market successfully.
A good and knowledgeable friend of mine tweeted this morning“the current crisis is the biggest opportunity of our lives, provided we focus on the opportunity and not the crisis”, and to be able to attack these identifiable opportunities, a valid B-BBEE certificate should be part of your arsenal.
Article by Edrich Linde
Executive B-BBEE Consultant