Hardie Minute

In a letter to Rebosa CE, Jan le Roux, the PPRA chairperson, Dr Steven Ngubeni, has announced that “After careful consideration and consultation with our legal advisors, we have resolved that the term “valid” in the context of BEE certificates does not imply “compliant”. This decision aligns with the recent legal opinion received by our Board. In light of this decision, we will now require industry participants to submit BEE certificates that are valid”.

The implication is that a valid BEE certificate must be obtained from an accredited agency, but no minimum BEE score applies (i.e. it needn’t be compliant).

This announcement comes as a great relief to the industry, which was thrown into turmoil several months ago when the PPRA announced its intention to enforce compliant BEE certificates for the next round of FFC renewals. Many saw the decision as sudden, with several real estate business owners scrambling to meet the BEE requirements for compliance.

“As Rebosa, we are pleased that the PPRA has seen fit to review its decision, the implementation of which would have had catastrophic consequences for the industry, and we believe, ironically, have harmed the very transformation the PPRA seeks to encourage”, says le Roux.

“We are also pleased to note that months of negotiations have borne fruit. It has long been our belief that coming together around the table would provide a much faster, cheaper, and less acrimonious result instead of heading straight to court”, he continues.

Le Roux stresses that while enforcing compliant BEE certificates is not the way to effect transformation, Rebosa is 100% committed to the goal behind it, which is to drive transformation within the industry; “As an industry, we absolutely need to support active transformation. Our hope is that the PPRA will take a serious look at the NPPC’s transformation proposal, which would use the Property Sector Transformation Fund to facilitate true transformation”.

Property Professionals – “PPRA amends its stance on BEE requirements“. Web Blog post. 14 August 2024.