B-BBEE Commission to crack the whip on non-compliance

TRAVEL is one of the
industries under the
scrutiny of the BroadBased
Black Economic
Empowerment (B-BBEE)
Commission.
Bongani Lukhele, head
of media relations of the
Department of Trade and
Industry, says the commission
will investigate probable
issues of non-compliance
within the travel industry,
in the coming months.
Busisiwe Ngwenya, director
of compliance of the B-BBEE
Commission, would not
disclose the number or details
of cases under investigation
until they were finalised, but
said the findings of concluded
cases would be disclosed.
Players in the industry
support the need for economic
transformation.
Andrew Stark, md for MEA
of Flight Centre Travel Group,
says not being compliant in
this day and age is simply not
forward thinking. “Companies
that are non-compliant have
very little chance of growing
their business in markets of
the future.”
Another problem with
companies that are not
compliant is that nobody
wants to do business with
these companies for fear that
their own BEE requirements
will be affected, Marco
Ciocchetti, ceo of XL Travel
points out.
Mary Shilleto, ceo of
Thompsons Travel, says
if industry players are
truly committed to the
empowerment of young people
who have studied travel,
mentoring and partnering
with them is an obligation.
“We cannot transform our
industry in any shape or form
if we do not actively make a
commitment to spend time
and money on training and
upskilling the newcomers in
the market.”