Verification agency dismisses claim that it is being investigated for fronting
Black empowerment verification agency AQRate Verification Services strongly disputes allegations that it is being investigated by the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) acting commissioner for possible fronting as stated in an article published on the Engineering News Online website on August 8.
The allegation contained in the article arose from a press statement released by the Department of Trade and Industry on behalf of the B-BBEE Commission. The statement indicated that investigations had been initiated against 17 entities that may be in violation of the B-BBEE Act.
However, an attorney acting for AQRate KZN (Pty) Ltd, which falls under the marketing banner of AQRate Verification Services, said that no notice of an investigation had been received from the commissioner.
“The regulations of the Act are clear in that the commissioner shall investigate by issuing a notice to do so in the prescribed form, our client has received no such notice,” Morris Fuller Williams Incorporated attorney Chantele Schutzler said in a written objection to the article.
Schutzler described the originating press statement as “inaccurate and highly defamatory” and the news article as “sensationalism”. She added that their publication had caused “irreparable harm and damages” to AQRate Verification Services, which had been contacted by clients demanding an explanation.
“The article as well as the press release was clearly designed to convey a message to the public at large that our client, which is itself a BEE verification agency, is guilty of some sort of misconduct relating to its ownership structures and verification processes. This before any form of investigation has actually been conducted.”
Schutzler confirmed that AQRate KZN was majority black African female owned and operated.
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