JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa will have
standard criteria to determine compliance with the government's
black empowerment policies by August, a South African National Accreditation
System director said on Wednesday.
"This will ensure that all empowerment rating
agencies operate consistently and have competent people who can
operate impartially among other things to ensure that a rating from
one agency is more or less the same as what you may get from another,
Sanas Sean McCurtain said.
The industry measures the compliance of South
African companies with empowerment policies which are intended to
boost black participation in the mainstream economy following decades
of marginalisation under white rule.
In terms of the policies and empowerment charters
for various industries, firms are required to sell stakes to black
investors, meet certain targets on black staff development and procurement
from black owned enterprises among others.
There are currently about 40 agents with about
half active but industry insiders expect the number to grow with
plans to allow auditing firms to join.
The Association of BEE Verification Agencies
(ABVA) welcomed the move.
"It's very positive and I believe it will
provide certainty and credibility to our industry," ABVA spokesman
Theo Lombard said.
