[Let me tell you a BEE story. A friend of mine used to work for a “black owned” oil company called TEPCO. As can be expected, TEPCO did not do well, and was soon faltering. It was bought out by Shell oil. TEPCO is now pretty much a “Shell” (excuse the pun!) because it has become nothing more than a tax write off for Shell.

The whole BEE idea is impractical. It is not working all that well, and the BEE companies are generally, hitting the wall. Its really a nuisance standing in the way of good business. Jan]

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will investigate and prosecute companies fronting as black empowerment businesses, the SABC reported on Tuesday.

The department of trade and industry on Tuesday explained to parliament the nuts and bolts of the codes of practice of BEE.

MPs had the chance to grill the department of trade and industry on the set of rules.

The first phase of codes was adopted by Cabinet in October last year. But the issue on MPs’ minds was fronting – companies that claim they are black-owned but are not.

The DTI said the codes now set clear guidelines.

DTI director general Lionel October said it was setting up verification agencies from where it would get accredited verification of companies, checking that they adhere to the scorecard.

The DTI hoped this would end fronting and there would be no more problems.

Broadening the pool of companies benefiting from huge empowerment deals was also on the cards.

Reference was made to companies almost exclusively benefiting from multi-million rand deals.

Companies would now receive bonus points and incentives if they brought in new players.

The codes are open for public comment and a final document will be presented to Cabinet in June. – Sapa

Source: Independent Online (IOL)
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click…/p>