South African construction industry organisation Master Builders South Africa (MBSA) last month called on its members to get firmly behind the transformation goals of the newly released draft construction sector code for black economic empowerment (BEE).

In many ways, the revised code evolved from the 2009 construction sector code, which the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) repealed in February. It sets higher and stricter targets for BEE in terms of ownership, management and procurement, among others, while purposely closing many of the loopholes being used for fronting or misrepresenting actual BEE compliance.

MBSA executive director Roy Mnisi says the association wholeheartedly supports the new draft code and believes it is critical to attaining the country’s development agenda, as adoption of the code will broaden economic participation in industry while driving growth, job creation, skills development and poverty alleviation.

“We therefore want to encourage and support all our members to adopt and comply with the new code,” he avers, explaining that the draft code will be open for comment for a 60-day period subsequent to being gazetted.

Mnisi predicts that the final sector code will be gazetted in October.

“Unlike the previous code, there will not be a lengthy transition period and the Construction Sector Charter Council (CSCC) is moving for a simultaneous adoption upon implementation of the new code,” he highlights.

Mnisi says the simultaneous adoption of the new sector code will ensure that MBSA maintains the positive momentum achieved by the previous code and helps the organisation move quickly towards its new goals and aspirations.

“Rather than being punitive, we want to get behind our members and assist them in whatever way possible to meet the new goals set out by the CSCC. With the adoption of the new code, the construction industry has the opportunity to become a beacon of transformation in the country and we want all master builders to be part of it.”

While the new draft code is available from the CSCC and will be gazetted in the near future, MBSA will discuss, in-depth, the requirements of the new draft code at its yearly Master Builders Congress.

The congress will run from August 31 to September 2 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, and is open to all in the construction industry. CSCC CEO Thabo Masombuka and other industry roleplayers will attend to answer charter code-related questions.

“We will unpack some of the major elements, including the black ownership target of 35% within four years of promulgation of the code, the acceleration of black management within all echelons of companies and the appointment of black women in management positions,” says Mnisi.

Emerging supplier and contractor development through decisive procurement will also be a discussion point, along with skills development across the board, he adds.

Mnisi says the controversial once empowered, always empowered principle is also being done away with, but remains a hot topic, as well as the requirement for exempted microenterprises (EMEs) that will no longer be allowed to submit an affidavit as proof of the company’s EME status.

Other topics on the agenda will include the capping of outsourced contracts to a maximum of 25%, new weighting for broad-based BEE scorecards, alignment with national and industry-related imperatives, as well as enterprise and supplier development.