South Africa’s International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) has said that incorporating Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) codes into its processes is aimed at gaining data insight and not blocking import permits for non-compliant companies.
This follows concerns that linking B-BBEE criteria to permit allocations could inadvertently lead to a concentration of players in the market rather than diversification, and create scope for workarounds such as fronting-type arrangements or permit trading.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Freight News this week, ITAC Commissioner Ayabonga Cawe said the commission’s medium-term strategic development plan and annual performance plan aimed to grow the share of permit and authorisation processes that take into account the codes of good practice issued under Section 9 of the B-BBEE Act.
Firms are being asked to declare their B-BBEE status when applying for permits so ITAC can gain “greater insight into the spread of our authorisation decisions and their harmonisation to progress or the spread of ownership” under the code, Cawe said.
“To take B-BBEE status into account is not to say that, were you to be non-compliant, you would not be issued with a permit,” Cawe said, adding that the language aligned directly with Section 10 of the B-BBEE Act, which mandated organs of state to consider sector codes.
“I don’t think the view that people will no longer get permits because they don’t comply with B-BBEE is correct - not at all,” he said.
ITAC’s annual performance plan for 2026/27 specifically sought to reveal “greater insight into the spread of our work to firms owned and operated by designated groups” and did not represent a moratorium on trade participation for non-compliant firms, Cawe said.
Empowerment-linked requirements already existed in specific trade-related programmes, including the Automotive Production Development Programme’s Level 4 B-BBEE requirement for investment incentives and poultry rebate quotas set aside for historically disadvantaged individuals since 2015, Cawe said. However, ITAC does not determine trade policy.
He declined to be drawn on whether the data collection process was aimed at implementing a quota system for import permits in future. Long-term policy shifts remained the statutory prerogative of the minister of trade, industry and competition, Cawe said. “We have to comply with the law as it is currently written.”
“We haven’t sat in a corner and conspired to say let’s only corral people to get permits if they come in the requisite dress and with enough black people; it’s about understanding to what extent the scale of our authorisations is in concert with the constitutional imperative for redress,” he said.
The commissioner acknowledged industry’s anxiety surrounding the policy. “There's a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding,” he said.
Cawe added that any future guidelines amending permit considerations would be opened for public comment before implementation.
