On 25 May Webber Wentzel issued an update in respect of the
targets indicated as years 6-10 in the B-BBEE Codes of Good
Practice coming into force. You can read this update by
clicking here. By way of background, on 7 February 2012 the
Minister of Trade and Industry issued a notice providing clarity on
when the targets for years 6-10 would be applied. The notice
erroneously included reference to "0-6 years" as opposed
to "6-10 years", and contained no definition of
"measurement period". The notice did explain that the
new, higher targets would be applied to all entities whose
measurement period ended after 9 February 2012. This was understood
to imply that if your financial year end was, for example, 29
February 2012, your next verification would use the targets for
years 6-10.
Consequent to the notice, we understand that verifications have
taken place using the new targets for businesses whose year end was
after 9 February 2012.
On 11 May 2012, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) sent an
email stating that "the DTI is in the process of refining the
Codes of Good Practice on B-BBEE and therefore the 0-5 year targets
will be applied until the process of refining the code is finalised
and gazetted. In light of the aforementioned, the DTI will withdraw
the notice to eliminate the confusion in the market regarding the
implementation of the 6-10 targets and provide further guidance on
the measurement date".
We understand that, subsequent to the above email, there has been
some confusion amongst verification agencies as to the correct
targets to apply.
The DTI has now, on 9 July 2012, published a notice clarifying the
errors in their previous notice. This notice has corrected the
period from "0-6 years" to "6-10" and defined
the measurement period as the immediate twelve (12) months
preceding the measurement date.
It remains unclear which party will carry any costs associated
with reviewing certificates issued after incorrectly utilising the
previous targets. Notwithstanding this, the clarity provided by the
DTI in this latest notice is welcomed.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
