The B-BBEE Commission has advised organisations and organs of state to reject B-BBEE certificates that have been issued by verification agencies or professionals not accredited by South African National Accreditation Systems (SANAS).
In addition, it advises that Exempted Micro-Enterprises (EMEs) and Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs) that are at least 51% black owned are only required to present sworn affidavits, and these sworn affidavits must be accepted.
Government introduced this mechanism specifically to reduce the cost of doing business and regulatory burden for these entities and the template for the sworn affidavit is available at no cost on the website www.thedti.gov.za or EME certificates at CIPC from www.cipc.co.za.
EMEs are entities with R10-million or less in annual turnover, while QSEs are entities with annual turnover between R10-million and R50-million.
The B-BBEE Commission states: “The only time an EME can be verified by a SANAS-accredited verification professional is when it wishes to maximise its B-BBEE points and move to a higher B-BBEE recognition level, and that must be done using the QSE Scorecard.”
This means that a B-BBEE certificate issued to EMEs and 51%-to-100% black owned QSEs is invalid as there is no authority under the current Codes of Good Practice, the B-BBEE Regulations or the B-BBEE Act for any verification professional or agency to conduct verification or issue a B-BBEE certificate to any such entity.
“The exception to this is the Transport Sector where EMEs have a choice of obtaining accounting letters or get verified and issued a B-BBEE certificate by SANAS accredited agencies and professionals because the Transport Sector Code has not been aligned to the amended generic Codes,” according to the B-BBEE Commission. “Also, start-ups that are EMEs but wish to tender for contracts of R10-million in value or above must be verified using the QSE scorecard, and for tenders of R50 million and above must be verified using the generic scorecard.”
It also states that an entity or organ of state that refuses to accept a sworn affidavit from entities that qualify undermine the objectives of the B-BBEE Act.
The B-BBEE Commission initiates investigations against verification agencies and professionals that consistently issue B-BBEE certificates incorrectly, as well as those that defy an instruction to withdraw a B-BBEE certificate considered to be invalid.