Shortage of accreditation agencies hampers BEE drive

There is still a serious
shortage of accrediting
agencies for freight
and transport sector
companies’ black
economic empowerment
(BEE) scorecards – an
essential if the companies
are to continue operating
under the guidelines of
the Department of Trade
and Industry BEE strategy
document.
Keith Levenstein,
CEO of empowerment
consultants EconoBEE,
told FTW that each sector
of industry has to compile
a scorecard exclusive to
their relevant sector. And
these have to be issued by
a specialised accreditation
agency with provable skills
in the freight/transport
sector – which in turn have
to be accredited by the
SA National Accreditation
System (Sanas) before
starting to operate.
Last year, Levenstein
estimated there was only a
grand total of 35 accredited
agents nationwide – and
only a few of these had
the specific qualifications
in freight/transport.
Now he estimates about
77 agencies around the
country, out of the 500 that
he felt would be necessary
to fulfil the accreditation
demands.
And he pointed out that
the process of accrediting
more agencies was in
limbo. “The dti has given
up the approval process,”
Levenstein said, “and has
appointed the Independent
Regulatory Body of
Auditors (IRBA) to carry
out the task.
“But that body is still
in the throes of setting up
its accreditation procedure,
and it will probably
take about a year to
start working.”