Update on BBBEE in agencies, impact of new codes
To update the marketing, advertising and communications (MAC) industry in South Africa on the impact of the new codes on broad based black economic empowerment (BBBEE), the Independent Agency Search and Selection Company (IAS) recently hosted a Masterclass.
Facilitating the Masterclass was Deon Oberholzer, the co-founder and CEO of Veri-Com, a SANAS accredited BEE Verification agency with accreditation in all gazetted sector codes. He has been involved with BEE since 2004.
"The codes are going to be stricter and will have a great impact on non-compliant agencies in South Africa. Scoring and weightings have changed in the new drafted codes, which makes it difficult to retain the level of BBBEE scores that an agency enjoyed previously. It has become more important than ever to ensure that agencies meet the specified criteria outlined by the BBBEE codes."
Oberholzer made it clear that there are three priority elements in the draft BEE Codes and if organisations do not meet the set minimum criteria, it would seriously affect their scorecards:
- Ownership
- Skills development
- Enterprise and supplier development
He commented that the MAC BEE Charter is still on the cards to be gazetted as a Sector Code and that it could happen in the near future. The MAC industry would then be required to comply with the MAC Code until it is aligned with the requirements of the new draft BEE Codes.
A BEE scorecard is an important aspect of conducting business in South Africa and cascades through the whole economy. This standard measurement gives organisations credibility with suppliers and associates and it is important to ensure that a business has a verified BEE scorecard. This makes it important for agencies to know how BBBEE can affect the way they conduct their business.
"Our work within the MAC industry exposes us to the importance of complying with the standards and policies that BBBEE codes have outlined. The majority of pitch processes that we facilitate, automatically disqualify agencies that do not meet the clients BBBEE requirements, so it was important that our subscribing agencies were given a closer view of what the BBBEE forecast is," says Johanna McDowell, MD of the IAS.
For more, go to www.agencyselection.co.za.
