Revised B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, has announced the release of the revised B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice 2013. He argues the refined codes symbolise a new beginning in the re-orientation of the transformation policy to focus more on productive B-BBEE and growing effective black owned enterprises.

Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to Davies, key areas of the amended Codes include the generic scorecard consolidated into five elements and aligned to government’s key priority programmes.

The points for ownership have been broadened to include designated groups in the main points and thresholds for Exempted Micro Enterprises (EMEs) and Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs) have been adjusted. All companies, except Exempted Micro Enterprises, will be required to comply with the five elements of the B-BBEE scorecard:

1. Ownership
2. Management Control
3. Skills Development
4. Enterprise and Supplier Development
5. Socio-Economic Development

EMEs and QSEs that are at least more than 51% owned by black people will qualify as a level 2 contributor; and those that are 100% black-owned will qualify as Level 1.

A 12 months transitional period from today has been granted, during which the country is provided with opportunity to align and prepare for implementation of the revised codes.

[DTI Press Release on B-BBEE Codes 2013]

Saldanha Bay finally a development zone

After years of discussions,  Saldanha Bay is finally to become an Industrial Development Zone (IDZ). President Jacob Zuma will launch the Saldanha Bay development zone and handover the operator permit on 31 October 2013.

Saldanha Bay IDZ is strategically located to serve the large Oil & Gas sector on the African continent due to an increasing number of oil rigs requiring maintenance, and their traffic flow passing by the West Coast to the East Coast of Africa.

The sectoral focus on oil and gas services will include maintenance and repair, manufacturing, supply and other services. The IDZ is likely to attract foreign direct investment worth approximately R9.3bn over 25 years.

Designated as an IDZ, Saldanha Bay will be attractive to investors because of various benefits.

Saldanha Bay, Western Cape, South Africa. Coordinates: 33º 02′ 11″ S 17º 59′ 04″ E. Facing east (north is to the left.) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Watch out for cyber-crime!

Never be too sure about that your business is not a spotted target of cyber-crime. It does not make a change because your business is new or small. Typical attackers do not target individuals or businesses – they target vulnerabilities. They scan the internet continuously, and when they come across a vulnerable computer – which can happen within a few minutes of an unprotected computer being connected – the attack is launched automatically. Watch out for cyber-crime all the time!

But here is good news as well.  Security measure against cyber-crime are not as expensive and complex they used to be. Nowadays, there are all-in-one solutions providing reliable mail server protection and unified threat management services. This makes it simple and affordable for any business to take efficient and affordable steps against cyber-crime.

Computer security (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Which level of security is needed?

To answer this, please have a look on the following tips:

• consider intrusion protection and web content filtering, and secure web proxy with anti-virus, malware and phishing protection;
• protect user accounts with strong passwords – and change them regularly;
• ensure your anti-virus, malware, phishing and anti-spy software is updated regularly;
• keep your operating system and applications current and patched;
• remove unused user accounts and software; and
• limit access to sensitive information.

[More info]

Reducing crime in business

Business Against Crime commented on the latest statistics on crime in business.  While copper theft declined, corruption remains a hot topic.

Social conditions, such as poverty, loss of employment and a lack of family support, besides others, impact on crime, despite the significant efforts made by government to affect effective law enforcement, Business Against Crime South Africa (Bacsa) CEO advocate Simi Pillay-van Graan said. Experience confirms the importance of a public-private-partnership between business and police to turn things to the better.

Commenting on the 2012/13 crime statistics, released in Pretoria, she pointed out that this year had seen a rise in the number of small business robberies and that corruption continued to be an issue. On the other hand, actions taken against copper theft show impact by declining numbers. [Read article]