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B-BBEE Amendment Bill

Have your say on new BEE bill

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:47

Aside from aligning the B-BBEE Bill with the Codes of Good Practice and other legislation impacting B-BBEE, the proposed amendments to the B-BBEE Act propose the establishment of the B-BBEE Commission to establish an institutional environment for monitoring and evaluating BEE.

It also intends to provide for the regulation of the verification industry by the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors and to deal with non-compliance and circumvention by introducing offences and penalties.

Robert Davies, Trade and Industry Minister says that the proposed B-BBEE Commission will ensure that BEE activities in the country are aligned.

"The B-BBEE Commission which is proposed in the BBBEE Amendment Bill will play a critical role including, but not limited to , oversee, supervise and promote adherence with the B-BBEE Act and Codes of good practice in the interest of the public, strengthen and foster collaboration between the public and private sector in order to promote and safeguard the objectives of B-BBEE; promote advocacy, access to opportunities, and educational programmes and initiatives of B-BBEE; and promote good governance and accountability by creating an effective and efficient environment for the promotion and implementation of B-BBEE," he said.

Davies said the bill did not leave a room for fronting with those involved in fronting and convicted likely to face 10 years imprisonment.

The bill also introduces inclusion of specific statutory offences involving fronting and other forms of fraudulent misrepresentation of empowerment status and the specification of penalties and blacklisting of entities and /or management for those offences.

Furthermore, the Bill makes provisions for empowering the Special Investigations Unit to investigate all offences involving fronting or corruption committed by both the public and private sector with regard to the application of the Act and B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice.