What is Black Economic
Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a government initiative aimed at increasing equity and uplifting black business owners, stakeholders and employees. The government refers to BEE as ‘positive discrimination’. BEE is the process by which previously disadvantaged South Africans have been empowered through the transfer of ownership. Compliance with BEE principles
Why is BEE referred to as BBBEE?
When Black Employment Equity (BEE) was first implemented in the nineties, there was no coherent strategy towards its implementation. When the South African Government gazetted updated Codes of Good Practice at the beginning of 2007, it made the implementation of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) a legal reality. Even though most think of Black Employment Equity as BEE, as the process was refined, its name changed to Broad-Based Black Employment Equity (B-BBEE) in order to encompass not just Blacks, but Coloured, Indians and the Chinese populations of South Africa
The Basics of BBBEE:
BEE is not forced upon any entity by law.
This is a process where the entity has to come into contact with
This comprises three easy steps:
- Completion of Documentation and BEE Verification planning.
- Gathering of Evidence according to the 5 elements of relevance
- Verification of Evidence and calculating BEE Compliancy.
Who Must Comply with BEE?
Size is relevant in determining the levels of B-BBEE compliance. All organs of state, public entities and any private enterprise that undertakes business with a public entity must implement the Codes. Any business providing goods or services to another business that is subject to BEE (B-BBEE) compliance may also need to provide evidence of its own BEE (B-BBEE) compliance. The size of your business is significant in determining the required levels of BEE (B-BBEE) compliance. The Codes provide for three levels of compliance based on the size of your business:
- Exempted Micro Enterprises (EMEs), which are businesses with an annual turnover of less than R10 million. This is a new amendment, EMEs were previously businesses with an annual turnover of less than R300 000 and less than five staff members. EME with more than 51% Black ownership can get a Level 2 score and 100 % Black ownership can obtain Level 1 and only need
and affidavit. - Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs), which are businesses with an annual turnover of between R10 to R50 million. An onsite audit is done, this is where 5 elements are verified and a site verification is also conducted. QSE with more than 51% Black ownership can get a Level 2 score and 100% Black ownership can obtain Level 1 and only need
and affidavit - Medium to large enterprises (M&Ls), which are businesses with an annual turnover of more than R50 million and a full-on site audit is necessary, this means that all 5 elements are verified as per the Generic Scorecard, a site verification
as well as interviews are conducted.
Advantages of BEE compliance:
- Allows participation in the formal South African economy
- Companies will favour you as a client, particularly those aiming to acquire at least 50% of annual procurement from companies with BEE (B-BBEE) certificates.
- Able to bid for Government tenders, apply for licences, get permits and are favourably considered for procurements by the Public Sector and all BEE (B-BBEE) verified enterprises.
- Have access to tax incentives and financial grants, specifically aimed at the BEE (B-BBEE) programme.
- Avoid long questionnaires relating to BEE (B-BBEE) when tendering for a contract.
The 5 Elements of BEE Verification:
During a BEE
| OWNERSHIP | Proof of shares in HDI hands. A share certificate |
|---|---|
| MANAGEMENT | Proof of HDI’s (men/women) in top/senior/middle/junior management. Interviews will be held to confirm seniority, job description, salary etc. Submission of |
| SKILLS DEVELOPMENT | Proof of training |
| ENTERPRISE AND SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT | Proof of purchases from current and suppliers that are BEE compliant and Empowering Suppliers as a percentage of total procurement spend. Aiding SMME’s and emerging entities owned by HDI’s to trade in the mainstream economy. An example is setting up a CC and contracting such an entity to provide products. This is regarded as a priority element and failure to comply with the minimum target 40% in all categories will result in the Level as obtained above being discounted. |
| Social contributions towards own employees, employees’ families and communities such as paying employees children’s school fees and contributions towards black sports teams. |
Why am I listed here?
You’ve been added to the portal as a Free Listing because you completed a BEE questionnaire listing your company’s details for the use of procurement companies looking for BEE certified business for products and services that meet their individual requirements.
What is a Free Listing?
It lists your product(s) on the portal, making you visible to the trade, enabling the trade to include your products in their search itineraries. It includes a description of your product, BEE status and contact details.
How & where is my content distributed?
ASCCI has specific digital sales tools that facilitate content distribution for Enhanced Listings, namely the API, content widgets & the content portal. Anyone operating within the system can access your content & use for their specific needs. Access to the portal is not open as suppliers as well as procurement users must be listed by ASCCI and will be provided by a unique username and password to enable
Who has access to my information?
Information provided as part of the ASCCI Procurement Portal will only be made visible to authorised persons in ASCCI. Information provided as part of the BEE Supplier questionnaire will be made visible to all authorised persons in ASCCI as well as to all future buying organisations within the Community. Please note that your information will not be visible to other suppliers; likewise, you cannot search other suppliers’ company records. This is to protect supplier confidentiality.
Can I update my information?
Suppliers can update their information at any time by logging in and navigating to their profile. As part of the service provided by ASCCI, suppliers will also receive automatic reminders when critical information such as certification is due to ensure that they have every opportunity to keep their profile up-to-date.
Are there any costs associated with registration?
Registration in the ASCCI Procurement Portal is free of charge for all suppliers – existing and new.
Why your business should register
Registering at the correct level based on our pre-set registration
- Remain compliant and continue to be eligible for future business within the procurement community;
- Strengthen your business relationship within the market;
- Realise important efficiencies for your business with one single point of entry for all company data relevant to the procurement process that can be accessed by buyers and other stakeholders across the community using an efficient and secure online tool;
- Demonstrate/evidence critical compliance against a range of key criteria and increase your chances of new contract awards;
- Ensure that we have your latest company information available to enable us to transact effectively and efficiently with your organisation
- Ensure that your data remains in all ASCCI’s internal systems
- Benefit from new business opportunities with other buying organisations that are set to join the Community in the future as they too will have access to your full company profile thus providing you with an excellent, free marketing tool for your business
How does the ASCCI Procurement Portal benefit suppliers?
- Demonstrate compliance and increase the likelihood of
contract award. More and more buyers are coming to realise that they are increasingly accountable for the behaviour of their suppliers and legislative and regulatory compliance is featuring high on their strategic agenda. They need to protect their reputation and avoid loss of business confidence through the association with the wrong supplier. As a supplier, being able to demonstrate your compliance, particularly in relation to BBBEE, and provide the necessary certification as evidence of that compliance gives you a strong competitive advantage and increases your chances of being awarded a contract. - Through the provision of more detailed information about your
business this will serve to strengthen your business relationship with your clientorganisation, and help you to build new ones. - Increase visibility and generate new business opportunities The ASCCI Procurement Portal offers suppliers a unique and strong marketing tool for their business. By putting your company in front of key decision makers, it provides a gateway for new business with all member buying organisations in the Community, including ASCCI.
- Registering in the ASCCI Procurement Portal takes the hassle out of procurement and cuts down the associated administration time and costs with just one single point of entry for all data relevant to the supplier pre-qualification process.
- By only having to complete one pre-qualification questionnaire that meets the basic sourcing requirements of all member organisations of the Procurement Community, it provides your business with a
laboursaving and cost-effective means to remain compliant. - Ensure buyers have access to your latest company information. As the data is owned by you, this means that you can ensure that it is up-to-date and accurate at all times and guarantee that buyers have your latest company information to hand when undertaking sourcing activities, therefore increasing your chances of appearing in relevant search results.
- With 24/7 access to the ASCCI system, you can update your information when it suits you.
Technical Issues and Support What languages
Currently, the Community questionnaire is available in English only.
What happens if I can’t
If you’re having trouble logging in you can request a new password notification email by contacting ASCCI at contact us and they will assist you.
How many users can have login details?
The main contact registered will have access to the system.
How do I attach a document?
To attach a document, you will need to:
- Save the document to your current computer
- Click on ‘Browse’
- Select the document from your system for upload. Supported document formats include: .jpg .jpeg .png .rtf .pdf
What happens if I need to make any changes to my questionnaire?
- Once your questionnaire has been submitted to ASCCI for data validation, you cannot make any changes to your questionnaire until it has been checked and published by ASCCI (other than as part of the data validation process where issues have been raised directly with you).
- Once a questionnaire has been published, you can make changes at any point in time by using the Username and Password provided to you during the validation process and navigating to “My Profile”.
- If you make any changes to your questionnaire(s) you will need to save your changes and re-submit your questionnaire for data validation.
- Once your changes have successfully passed the ASCCI data validation process, your updated information will be published and made available to authorised persons within ASCCI.
What happens if my questionnaire is rejected during the data validation process?
If any issues or inconsistencies with the information you have provided in your questionnaire are flagged up during the data validation process, you will receive an email from ASCCI listing the issues you need to address. It is important that you address these issues as soon as possible. Please be aware that until all issues have been successfully and satisfactorily resolved, your questionnaire cannot be published and will not be accessible to ASCCI or the Procurement Community.
What happens if the information I provided goes out of date?
We recommend that you update this information as soon as possible to ensure that ASCCI and other buying organisations have access to your most up-to-date information and latest certification.
I don’t have all the information being asked for; what do I do?
You can only submit the questionnaire once all fields marked as “required” have been completed. If the information you do not have available is not required, then you can continue with the rest of the questionnaire. If you need to source the required information from elsewhere, you can save the details that you have completed and add the missing information at a later point in time.
Please note: until your information has been fully completed, submitted and has successfully passed the data validation process, it will not be visible to ASCCI or other buying organisations in the Community.
Can I provide any pricing information on my company’s products and services?
No, you cannot provide any pricing information in your registration because there are too many variables. Pricing is a matter of negotiation between your company and the purchasing department in an automotive company.
How can I contact ASCCI?