Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) forms a significant part of the South African government’s economic transformation strategy. BBBEE policy and legislation is driven by the Presidency and the Department of Trade and Industry, who have adopted a multi-faceted approach with a number of different components aimed at increasing black management, ownership and corporate control in order to decrease racially based inequalities.

The BBBEE legal framework has become increasingly sectorised. There are now many industries with sector-specific codes of good practice or charters issued in terms of the Act. The purpose of the Codes of Good Practice is to assist and advise both the public and private sectors in their implementation of BBBEE in terms of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (the Act). The Codes of Good Practice provide principles and guidelines in order to facilitate the implementation of BBBEE in a sustainable manner.

At Shepstone & Wylie Attorneys, BBBEE is dealt with by a team of specialist attorneys within the Corporate & Commercial department while drawing on expertise from other related departments and teams such as Competition, Employment, Local Government & Administration, Mining and Tax.