Proposed B-BBEE changes to drive youth employment

SUBSTANTIAL changes to
the Broad Based Black
Economic Employment
(B-BBEE) Act were proposed
on March 29 and are currently
open for comment for a 60-
day window period. These
include the introduction of the
Youth Employment Services
(YES) initiative, easier B-BBEE
recognition for 51% and 100%
black-owned businesses as
well as changes to the skills
development scorecard.
Robyn Anderson, marketing
and sales consultant for LLC
Consulting (BEE consultants)
and the LLC Academy, explains
that YES was born out of
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s
ceo initiative. This initiative
aims to create one million
new black youth jobs within
three years. Companies that
register to become accredited
YES entities are incentivised
with the opportunity to raise
their B-BBEE ratings by one
or two levels by creating new
positions for black youth.
The legislature also makes it
easier for genuine black-owned
businesses to reach B-BBEE
level 1 and level 2. Currently,
generic entities are required
to undergo verification to
certify their B-BBEE level,
while exempt micro entities
and qualifying small
enterprises are simply
required to complete an
affidavit showing 51% or
100% black ownership in
order to obtain level 1 or 2.
If approved, the proposed
changes will again allow
entities of all sizes to more
easily qualify for higher levels
through genuine black share
ownership.
Sailesh Parbhu, md of XL
Nexus Travel, welcomed this,
saying that any legislative
changes that would make the
B-BBEE auditing process less
cumbersome would be well
received in the industry.
Proposed changes to the
Skills Development scorecard
include reducing the skills
development expenditure
target from 6% to 3,5% of
payroll. A new category will
also measure expenditure
on unconditional higher
educational bursaries awarded
to black students. Learnership
targets for previously
employed and previously
unemployed black people are
now clearly separated and
the limit for recognition of
information training has also
increased from 15% to 25%.
Robyn said the increase in
the informal training limit was
good news. She explained that
much of the current on-the-job
training in the travel industry
was classified as informal and
that agencies would be able to
have more of their spend on
training recognised under this
category.
She added that many of
the proposed changes would
require a strategic approach
that took a long-term view
once approved. While a grace
period would be provided
to allow companies time to
implement changes, she urged
industry members to review
their B-BBEE strategies now so
that they could start benefiting
from the changes to the codes
as soon as possible.
 “Our B-BBEE consultants
have found that many travel
agents are unaware that
they are well on their way
to achieving their targets
under the Skills Development
element with their current
training programmes. A few
small formalisation tweaks
are often all that is needed to
maximise their score on this
priority element,” said Robyn.
While Sailesh agreed that
the increased informal training
limit would be generally well
received, he said that XL
Nexus Travel had already
invested heavily in formalising
training initiatives in order to
maximise scorecard ratings.
He said Nexus was also
already engaging in youth
employment initiatives, having
taken on 24 candidates for an
internal graduate programme
this year.
“College syllabuses do not
necessarily always translate
into day-to-day agency skills.
Our programme has been
designed to provide a holistic
programme that enables
candidates to understand
a transaction from start to
end. They work in our leisure,
corporate, conferencing,
debtors and financing
departments, with mentors
in each sector that give them
assessments and scenario
tests. The internship also
includes a Galileo course,”
explained Sailesh.