16 December 2005
	SCORING BEE TIME Colleen Wilson, Durban.

I own a transformation advisory business and believe in the black economic empowerment (BEE) legislation and its thorough, though convoluted, design. But when I sat in a meeting with a client and the "KwaZulu Natal BEE officer" of a petroleum refinery last week, my balloon couldn't help but deflate. This BEE officer, let's call him William, spent 45 contradictory minutes preaching to us about BEE - the bottom line being that my client needs to sell at least 25% of his business to a black individual or concern to be eligible for their tenders. This is may be in line with the legislation, but the moments of distress for me were these: First, William stated categorically that his company was not interested in broad-based BEE - that is, employment equity, skills training, preferential procurement, enterprise development and community social investment - as these elements were a cop-out for white business and deflected attention from ownership. Second, he repeatedly stated: "Just sell 25% of your business, find someone and sell it, quickly." Not only did he disregard our five-year plan towards ownership, but he punted one particular BEE business to which to sell the 25%, and dismissed other routes to ownership. Though representing a large concern, he did not know all the areas of the BEE scorecard or their percentages. Even the ownership score fluctuated between 25% and 30% when he spoke. This stress on "ownership" by William and others like him will, except in a handful of staff share schemes, continue to enrich an elite few. William dismisses the commitment, time and expense invested in a broad-based strategy with far greater reach than "ownership" alone. He seems, like many BEE advisers I have come across, to have little idea of business principles. But a lack of commercial orientation in a BEE environment will result in tears. Government and corporates who dispatch their BEE ambassadors to catalyse change should ensure they are fit for the job, or they will sully an otherwise exciting ideal.