In a move to shake up South Africa\u2019s empowerment landscape in KwaZulu-Natal, Indians and coloureds could in future be blocked from state contracts of more than R50 million.<\/p>\n
The bid to reshape BEE policies to benefit \u201cblack Africans\u201d is being spearheaded by KwaZulu-Natal economic development MEC Sihle Zikalala, reports The Sunday Time<\/a>s<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n According to the paper, it is being seen as a possible template for sweeping change in national empowerment legislation to incorporate the objectives of \u201cradical economic transformation\u201d.<\/p>\n The KwaZulu-Natal request, detailed in documents sent to the Treasury, makes it clear the aim is \u201cto ensure there is economic transformation to benefit black Africans in the province\u201d.<\/p>\n However, it also at odds with current\u00a0legislation and practice, with Treasury reportedly denying the request as it\u00a0would present constitutional issues.<\/p>\n December conference<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite the setback from Treasury,\u00a0Zikalala said that the provincial ANC would advance its view at the party\u2019s national elective conference in December.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to ensure that in a procurement, BEE is increased in favour of the Africans and blacks in general. This thing of defining blacks and Africans in general terms is also a problem . . . We must know who is an African and blacks in general,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n BEE legislation, such as the Broad-Based BEE Act and Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act currently defines “black” as Indians, coloureds, and Chinese citizens who were in South Africa before 1994, and black Africans generally.<\/p>\n Besides this reclassification, Zikalala also wants the province to be exempt from the PPPFA laws dictating the ratio between preference and price in public procurement, reports The Sunday Times.<\/p>\n When\u00a0allocating points during evaluation, officials currently apply an 80% weighting to price and 20% to preference for tenders between R30,000 and R50 million, and allocate 90\/10 for the respective weighting in tenders above R50 million.<\/p>\n KwaZulu-Natal wants to change these ratios to 50\/50 and 60\/40 respectively.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though a targeted group may be afforded preference in selection process, it is still required to submit a competitive bid to secure a contract.<\/p>\n \u201cWhichever way one looks at it, price is and will always be an important criterion,\u201d states the memo.<\/p>\n You can read the full story in today’s Sunday Times<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\n