It should not be a coincidence that recent reports released by various entities on Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) have concurred that the private sector’s compliance has been ‘way below par’. To put it more bluntly, the moral is for organisations to ‘up their ante’ in delivery.
One of the areas left wanting is that there are few black people in decision-making positions in junior, middle and senior management. So, will the new BBBEE codes occasion an increase in numbers?
Worth mentioning are the new employment equity targets, which stipulate the presence of 88% blacks in junior management, 75% in middle management and 60% in senior management.
Moreover, there will be an increase in skills development expenditure from 3 to 6% as well as training of unemployed black people. Absorbing trainers will earn companies bonus points.
Naturally, when the codes were released six months ago, analysts were elated, underscoring how they would transform the business landscape. “Gamer-changers for economic transformation,” one commentator hailed them in a column published in City Press. Glowingly, he pointed out: “Very few youth idling on the periphery of the formal economy know of the new opportunities that these codes bring. They are still largely unaware that the companies they dream of joining are now required to double their training budgets.”
Indeed, if the new codes are to be scrupulously executed there would be a good chance that some young black professionals may possibly rise to the upper echelons of organisations. Developments in the next 12 months, when the new changes are expected to come to effect, should be interesting.
Will the colours be put to the mast concerning the new codes? The jury is out.