Call for a check list to promote genuine principles

B-BBEE will continue to be scrutinised until it delivers truly broad-based benefits. That is according to former activist and businessman Jay Naidoo who has thrown his weight behind the new Ditikeni broad-based BEE checklist. “Broad-based black economic empowerment was always intended as a public initiative, not as a means to amass private wealth,” he said. “Black economic empowerment had a national purpose – it was intended to address the exclusion of the formerly disadvantaged from the white-owned economy.” Black business organisations have publicly stated their disappointment in BEE, with Edwin Mashego of the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc) telling a briefing on the Financial Sector Charter in March that progress in transforming ownership of the financial sector in South Africa had been dismal. “Almost seven years later very little noticeable progress has been made. We have made dismal progress,” he said. For Naidoo the Ditikeni broad-based BEE checklist has become necessary due to the widespread disappointment with many BEE deals. “It addresses the current concerns around BEE practices and is designed to enhance the quality and transparency of B-BBEE ownership.