Black empowerment milestone for Coega

30 October 2019 | Web Article Number: ME201916967

FOLLOWING the revisions to the Codes of Good Practice, gazetted earlier this year, the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) has received a Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Level Two.

“This achievement makes the CDC one of the few state-owned entities (SoE) with a B-BBEE Level Two,” said Ntombozuko Sijila, a Senior B-BBEE Analyst with the corporation.

The new codes incorporate five elements: Ownership, Management Control, Skills Development, Enterprise & Supplier Development and Socio-Economic Development.

“The CDC has worked hard since the implementation of the new Codes of Good Practice to improve the score. It is pleasing that the organisation also achieved 125% in procurement. In simple terms, goods procured from a B-BBEE compliant company results in an improved BEE status for the clients,” said Sijila.

“What this means is that companies will be able to claim 125% against their preferential procurement scoring, which means that for every R1 spend with the CDC, R1,25 will be recognized when measured for preferential procurement.”

She added that in advancing socio-economic development, the CDC had also been focusing on skills development programme targeting the youth. As a result, it had increased its score in this area. The CDC’s Head of Marketing, Brand and Communication, Dr Ayanda Vilakazi, said, “the CDC continues to work hard to be a pillar of hope for socio-economic development in the region. The goal now is to achieve BBBEE Level One.”