BUILD Mag June 2023

Understanding
BEE
Black Economic Empowerment or BEE, as it
is commonly called, is often misunderstood.
The perception that the concept is a penal
measure meant to punish non-conforming
entities is incorrect.
Coming out of apartheid, it was clear that
the socio-economic landscape was wholly
unequal. There was a huge gap in skills
capabilities between disadvantaged
individuals and White people. Access to jobs
was not as easy for for Black people (in
terms of BEE Black includes African, Indian
and Coloured people).
The South African government identified
the need to create policies to help bridge
these gaps and provide easier access to
employment and skills development for
previously disadvantaged communities and
people who still bore the effects of the
apartheid regime.
The Employment Equity Act, Skills
Development Act, Labour Relations Act,
Basic Conditions of Employment Act were
all enacted or amended to be more inclusive,
to create space for people who would not
otherwise be able to gain access to jobs.
But this was not creating the kind of impact
that was needed.
The policy makers realised that a more
targeted kind of policy was needed to
directly address the particular issues
that were a residual consequence of
apartheid.
The focus now became broad based
implementation. The idea was to create
a scorecard with various elements.
Compliance with each element would
earn you a score depending on whether
you achieve certain targets. Your total
score would then earn you a rating -
Level 1, 2, 3, 4 - 9 or non compliant. You
have to be officially audited for this
process by a verification agency.
Over the years targets and frameworks
have changed but the basic idea
remains. In addition to that there are
thresholds that determine the
stringency of compliance. Now, if you
have turnover of less than R10million
per annum you are automatically
deemed to be a Level 4 BEE compliant
entity - you are considered an
Exempted Micro Enterprise.
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