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23 October 2007

The Department of Trade and Industry welcomes the recent debate regarding the place of sector charters in the light of the publication this year of the Department of Trade and Industry (dti)'s BEE Codes of Good Practice. Indeed the dti welcomes debate generally regarding issues of economic transformation, as well as our various interventions to grow and change the structure of the South African economy.

While the dti has led the construction of the policy framework under which transformation strategies such as Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) occur, this does not mean that there is no place for independent, private-sector driven strategies for change that work in harmony with departmental and government policy. It is in this context that we see a role for, and encourage, BBBEE Sector charters. It is our understanding that these charters are not meant to pull in a different direction from the codes, but rather represent the sector-specific efforts of each industry to achieve the goals set out in the codes.

In this regard, Section nine of the BBBEE Act empowers the Minister to issue guidelines for stakeholders in the relevant sectors of the economy to draw up transformation charters for their sector, and to undertake any other actions necessary to achieve the objectives of this Act. It is also worth remembering that the codes set universal minimum standards to be met in the push to encourage transformation and greater inclusiveness. The codes may therefore not always be sensitive to the dynamics and nuances of each industry. Where any given industry, because of its internal dynamics, is able to go beyond the minimum requirements set out in legislation, then that is to be encouraged. Indeed it would defeat the ultimate purpose of transformation if all businesses in all industries were held to the same minimum standards, even if they were capable of going further.

While the dti will always encourage public engagement on these and other issues, we would urge all who take part in such debates to recall the ultimate goals of all our interventions: job-creation and defeating poverty, eradicating the legacy of exclusion, improving the efficiency and competitiveness of South Africa, and encouraging faster and more shared growth in order to better the lives of all South Africans. These goals are far more important than the nuances in the architecture of our interventions, and the vision that underpins these goals will outlast any set of codes or charters.

For further comment contact:
Vukani Mde
Ministerial Spokesperson
Cell: 079 885 4443

Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
23 October 2007