The South African Department of Trade and Industry (‘dti’) issued the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Amendment Bill 2011 (‘the Amendment Bill’) for public comment on 9 December 2011.
The Amendment Bill proposes to introduce significant changes to the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act No. 23 of 2003 (‘B-BBEE Act’). The B-BBEE Act has always served merely as empowering legislation, with the detail of the compliance criteria set out in the Code of Good practice on B-BBEE gazetted in 2007 in terms of the B-BBEE Act (‘ the Codes of good practice’).
The Amendment Bill proposes to , amongst other issues:
• Strengthen the evaluation and monitoring of compliance with the Act;
• Clarify the interpretation of the Act and to provide for offences and penalties, especially around fronting offences;
• Introduce reporting obligations on enterprises subject to a sector code, companies listed on the JSE public entities and organs of State;
• Establish a B-BBEE Commission, which will have the role of overseeing, supervision and promotion of adherence to the B-BBEE Act and the Codes of Good Practice; and
• Provides for the regulation of B-BBEE Verification Professionals by the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors.
Comments are requested within 60 days from the issue date of the Amendment Bill, namely, 9 December 2011.
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