Thanks for correcting this Andrew.  Andrew wrote in the comments

Water use licensing is undertaken by DWA. The current demise of DWA is not unlike that of DAFF though....but it is a different minister....

It seems that I am a little too hasty to blame incompetent ministers on everything, Tina gets a reprieve.  I've made changes to the original post.  

The link to apply for water rights is here.

I was also a little too hasty to post the complete AgriBEE scorecard. Here it is 

 

A farmers' union has asked me to present a course on the AgriBEE Code. In conducting my research I could not fathom why any entity involved in agricultural would want to pay any attention to the AgriBEE scorecard. It's rather like paying your TV licence because it's the right thing to do but otherwise there is no other perceived benefit. The real issue with agricultural land is that of land restitution and the AgriBEE Code attempts to offer some sort of incentive to agricultural land owners to become part of this process. The only incentive offered being BEE points under the ownership scorecard. Government has committed to a number of initiatives to facilitate ownership under the code – all of which are stated land reform outcomes and land reform is still awaiting the finalisation of the Land Reform Green Paper. Most of the ownership aspect of the AgriBEE code does depend on the finalisation of the land reform legislative process.

• Contribute to increasing access and acquisition of agricultural land by Black People, through its existing programmes;
• Proactively acquire suitable agricultural land that comes onto the market for land redistribution
• Use above mentioned land and agricultural land that reverts to the state through foreclosure of indebted farmers, for redistribution, including through long lease arrangements (e.g. 99 year lease)
• Promote sustainable management and use of natural resources
• Finalise the land restitution process (it must be noted that the draft said this was to be done by 2008 – the code leaves this deadline open)
• Encourage the development of a land lease and land rental market
• Promote the consolidation and tenure on traditional community land in terms of relevant acts that support communal land
• Secure the ownership, access and tenure rights of Black Designated Groups through the registration of old order rights or new order rights into freehold ownership.

Returning to my earlier argument that, other than land redistribution there is little reason to implement a BEE scorecard within an agricultural environment. Implementation of BEE cannot be enforced without a procurement process driving it. It is because of the preferential procurement element that all BEE scorecards exist. The principle is simple – a large corporate asks its suppliers for a BEE scorecard because this has an impact in their own preferential procurement scorecard; the supplier asks its suppliers and so you get further down the chain. BEE has succeeded because of this process and this is without any assistance from the government. Agricultural produce, like all consumer goods should in theory fit in with this model. The retail sector is not the fastest adopter of BEE because there is less pressure on them to comply. The average customer is not concerned about the BEE status of their favourite retail store (although I think Jimmy Manyi might be), they purchase for a variety of reasons that are unrelated to BEE status. It is very likely that agricultural products are going to follow the same process. Pick 'n Pay is not going to quibble about the BEE status of a carrot supplier, they are going to buy because the stock is available and the price is right. Similarly, Tiger Brands is not going to prioritise baked bean suppliers on the basis of BEE status because it might possibly impact on the quality and price of the product which will result in me not buying a tin of Koo baked beans. The code does make a pathetic attempt at creating preferential procurement urgency by claiming that government will

• Align their procurement practices with AgriBEE when procuring goods and services from the agricultural Sector
• Provide Black People and QSEs preferred supplier status in the procurement of goods and services;
• Identify, prioritise and target Black entrepreneurs and Enterprises which contribute to broad-based BEE when awarding tenders and contracts to entities in the private sector; and
• Utilise all legislative and other measures available to it, including preferential procurement, to influence the attainment of broad-based BEE objectives

Of the four drivers only 1 and 4 carry any weight. In fact number 4 is a repeat of number 1. Numbers 2 and 3 lack the constitutional and legislative muscle to enforce. As it stands at the moment government is not permitted to prioritise classes of suppliers for their procurement. The success of the uptake of AgriBEE will therefore depend entirely on government as a consumer in this model. I suspect that this is not enough to sway farmers to implement any form of BEE in their organisations.

However – we are not out of the woods completely. A trend is starting to emerge within government legislative circles where BEE scorecards are going to be required when certain licences are allocated. This has been threatened in the allocation of liquor licences. There is nothing stopping the Department of Water Affairs from insisting on BEE compliance in the allocation of water licences.  In the absence of such a driver it is likely that uptake of AgriBEE is going to be very slow.

If there is one consistent feature of Zoomer's cabinet it is that he appoints people who should not allowed to maintain a scholar patrol let alone a cabinet position. Think Tina, Dina, Rob, Bloomers Motshekga, Siyabonehead Cwele, Colic Shabane and the list goes on. Malusi Gigaba, minister of public works, made an announcement today that 50% of all coal purchases will come from black owned miners. A noble idea but it is very clear that he has no lucid plan as to how to go about doing this. Oh he has a few ideas like

" we will be exploring set-asides and other mechanisms radically to accelerate the promotion of black industrialists and the entrance of youth- and women-owned businesses into the mainstream economy".

I am not going to bemoan the nobleness of this idea. What I am concerned about is this notion of set-asides. I have blogged about set-asides before (often), in each of these posts I have gone to great lengths to show that other than the fact that Treasury has outlawed them they are also a little south of what section 217 of the Constitution prescribes. There is little doubt that Malusi has got to get Treasury's permission to do this. And Treasury is not an easy nut to crack with this one because they will inevitably end up paying a premium for coal because they have to meet their set-aside targets. And we know that the ANC feels rocks when it comes to paying a premium for websites or anything when their cronies are the suppliers. But this Transnet has managed to persuade Treasury to modify their empowerment requirements, as this page explains.

A six-month battle between the Treasury and the Department of Public Enterprises over the empowerment and local content weighting in Transnet's R35bn acquisition of new locomotives has ended with the Treasury agreeing to let the tender go unchanged. The sticking point between the department and the Treasury over the tender was the weighting Transnet would be allowed to apply to evaluate the bids. Under the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, state-owned companies are required to use a 90:10 ratio, with 90% of the evaluation based on price and 10% on economic development commitments. Transnet, however, had structured its bid using a formula of 60:20:20. In this formula, 60% of the competition between bidders would be on price. The other components of the evaluation criteria were for 20% of the assessment to be focused on industrial commitments, with the balance being judged on a range of broad-based black economic empowerment criteria.

Treasury's greatest concern "related in part to a fear that the state will overpay for capital goods. Another concern is that local industrial programmes, shielded by the state's purse, could spawn industries unable to compete globally on quality or price."

We all know that Zoomer is driving the country into the ground, if Mal Oosie gets his way with the set-asides we'll know that Treasury is no longer concerned about the country. It is a sign.

We all know that the easiest definition of black is an African, Coloured or Indian who is a South African by birth or descent. But what we don't know is how to test that. As it turns out this is actually supported by an act, namely the South African Citizenship Act, no. 88 of 1995. And so spake the act

Citizenship by birth

2. (1) Any person-

(a) who immediately prior to the date of commencement of this Act, was a South African citizen by birth; or

(b) who is born in the Republic on or after the date of commencement of this Act; or

(c) who is by virtue of section 3(1)(b) a South African citizen, and one of his or her parents or his or her mother if he or she was born out of wedlock, was at the time of such person's birth-

(i) in the service of the Government of the Republic; or (ii) the representative or the employee of a person or an association of persons resident or established in the Republic; or

(iii) in the service of an international organisation of which the Government of the Republic was then a member,

shall, subject to the provisions of subsections (2) and (3), be a South African citizen by birth.

(2) No person shall be a South African citizen by virtue of subsection (1)(b) if, at the time of his or her birth, one of his or her parents-

(a) was a person enjoying diplomatic immunity in the Republic in terms of any law relating to diplomatic privileges, or was a career representative of the government of another country, or was a person employed in the embassy or legation of such a government or in the office of such a career representative, or was a member of the household or an employee of any such person; or

(b) had not been lawfully admitted to the Republic for permanent residence therein, and his or her other parent was not a South African citizen.

(3) No person who, after having ceased to be a South African citizen, at any time thereafter acquires South African citizenship by naturalisation in the Republic, shall be a South African citizen by birth.

(4) Any person born in the Republic and who is not a South African citizen by virtue of the provisions of subsection (2), shall be a South African citizen by birth, if-

(a) he or she is adopted by a South African citizen in accordance with the Child Care Act, 1983 (Act No. 74 of 1983); or

(b)(i) he or she does not have the citizenship or nationality of any other country, or has no right to such citizenship or nationality; and

(ii) his or her birth is registered in the Republic in accordance with the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1992 (Act No. 51 of 1992).

Citizenship by descent

3. (1) Any person-

(a) who, immediately prior to the date of commencement of this Act, was a South African citizen by descent; or

(b) who is born outside the Republic on or after the date of commencement of this Act, and-

(i) one of whose parents was, at the time of his or her birth, a South African citizen and whose birth is registered in terms of the provisions of section 13 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1992 (Act No. 51 of 1992); or

(ii) to whose responsible parent a certificate of the resumption of previous South African citizenship has, in terms of section 13(3), been issued, and who has entered the Republic for permanent residence therein before becoming a major, and whose birth is within one year after the date of issue of such certificate, or such longer period as the Minister in the special circumstances of the case may approve, registered in the Republic in the prescribed manner; or

(iii) who is adopted in terms of the provisions of the Child Care Act, 1983 (Act No. 74 of 1983), by a South African citizen and whose birth is registered in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph (i),

shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (2), be a South African citizen by descent.

(2) No person who, after having ceased to be a South African citizen, at any time thereafter acquires South African citizenship by naturalisation in the Republic, shall be a South African citizen by descent.

-From: Admin [mailto:support@shandukablackpages.co.za]

Sent: 19 April 2013 03:44 PM

To: paul@227.co.za

Subject: Application to access blackpages website declined

Dear Paul,

We regret to inform you that you have not complied with our requirements to gain access to blackpages website. Therefore you application has been declined.

Only buying organisations which would like to search blackpages for potential suppliers will be granted access.

We appreciate your interest in blackpages.

Yours in enterprise development (but not the ED of those who form part of our Umbrella)

Malope Mashifane

blackpages Project Manager

Tel: 010 590 5555

Fax: 086 219 5384

Email: malope@shandukablackpages.co.za

Website:www.shandukablackpages.co.za

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I assume then that these suppliers are in such demand that someone like me who has a definite need to find black suppliers is not needed to assist in their sustainability.  Italics are my emphasis