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.”