One of the functions of the B-BBEE Commission is to promote sound corporate governance practices as such are key to the success and sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises. This was said by the Senior Manager of Compliance at the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Commission (B-BBEE), Ms Lindiwe Madonsela.
She was speaking at the Gauteng Provincial B-BBEE Conference on Friday, 21 February in Meyerton. The conference was part of a series of provincial conferences that the B-BBEE Commission has been hosting since May last year to educate citizens about the role of the Commission, the services it offers and to also understand the challenges that have been identified through engagements with various stakeholders.
Madonsela explained that in ensuring the success of the Gauteng conference they decided to bring on board different partners that ranged from the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), the South African Revenue Services (SARS), the National Treasury, and the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) so that they can give a holistic message to small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Today we emphasised the importance of adherence to corporate governance by small and medium-sized enterprises and the role that the CIPC plays. We also taught them about the importance of tax compliance.
There was also better understanding about the role of the B-BBEE Commission. We made sure that entrepreneurs understand the distinction between a policy-maker and the regulator and the other different players that you find within the B-BBEE space,” said Madonsela.
She added that one thing that came out clearly from the conference was the support for small businesses.
“It is clear that even though we may have all these institutions we will still need to have specific dedicated programmes that target small and medium sized businesses in providing opportunities to access to the economy,” she said.
She added that the Gauteng conference was a build-up to the annual conference that will be hosted in Durban on 13 March 2020.
“We will be focusing on enterprise and supplier development and linking it to the challenges that we have picked up in all the provincial conferences. We will also unpack the B-BBEE legislative requirements for enterprise and supplier development. At the conclusion of these conferences we as the Commission will reflect internally based on the functions we are mandated to perform. We will also look at some of the issues that have been
raised to identify possible interventions within the scope of our mandate such as B-BBEE advocacy and education,” said Madonsela.