Transport sector needs to gear up for new BEE demands

Tougher B-BBEE times ahead,
as the Integrated Transport
Sector looks set to lose its
sector codes and their easierto-
comply-with BEE demands.
This as minister of trade
and industry, Dr Rob Davies,
issued a published notice last
week, stating that – unless
a sector council submits
its new sector code (which
must be “aligned” with the
new generic Codes of Good
Practice) by November 15 –
the Department of Trade and
Industry (dti) will consider
repealing that sector code.
And, according to Erika
Petersen-Holmes, partner in
the commercial & corporate
law department of Shepstone &
Wylie, that looks set to happen
in the transport sector: “The
transport sector codes have not
yet been updated or submitted
to the dti for approval,” she told
FTW. “They may do so before
that November deadline,
although this is unlikely
considering the number of subsectors
involved.”
And this was highlighted
at the 2009 gazetting of
the sector as comprising
eight sub-sectors – all of
which make up one of SA’s
largest infrastructure and
gross domestic product
(GDP) contributors.
But the possible repeal of
the sector’s codes will not be
instant, according to Keith
Levenstein, MD of EconoBEE
– who plumps for “at least
two months” (after the Nov 15
deadline) until it could happen.
It will eventually mean a
necessary switch from what
Levenstein described as the
“easy” BEE demands in the
codes to the more “onerous”
ones in the generic Codes of
Good Practice all maritime
and transport industries will
have to use for their BEE
verifications.
But this is not going to cause
any sort of industry upheaval.
According to Levenstein, this
situation has been on the brew
since 2012 when the amended
codes were published as a
draft and the dti stated that
the sector councils would be
expected to align the sector
codes with the amended codes.
The dti released some of
the codes in 2013 and the
remaining codes in May 2015,
but to date not one sector code
has been finalised.
Also, since it was first
known, members of the
transport industry have been
working towards aligning
their own BEE scorecards
to the generic Codes of
Good Practice, according to
Levenstein.
Indeed, he even questioned
the whole need for individual
sector codes in the first place.
As the EconoBEE
Newsletter of October 13 said:
“The sector codes have been
a problem since the day they
were first released. They add
no value to the transformation
process – in fact many
companies use the ‘imminent
release’ of a sector
code as a reason
to continue
delaying their
own BEE
activities.”
Levenstein
also pointed
out that there
were nine
existing sector codes. “Of
those,” he said, “only the
tourism sector code has been
aligned and released as a draft.
The MAC charter, which has
never previously been a sector
code, has also been published
for comment. Rumours are
that property is also ready
for a draft gazette. Other
sector codes are in various
stages of disarray (ie, the
stakeholders are unable to
reach a consensus).”
INSERT & CAPTION
The possible repeal
of the sector’s codes
will not be instant.
– Keith Levenstein