In the early days of this column, I wrote about the importance of adapting to government’s requirements for Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), as it was first called. I warned market agents that whether they liked it or not, BEE was about to become law and they would have to adapt accordingly. A good number took the BEE idea seriously and started doing something about it in their organisations.
Many market agencies, however, chose to ignore my comments, as well as those of other well-intentioned commentators. Since then, the road to transformation within the market agents sector has been littered with failures.
The successes are evident
Having said this, transformation for market agents is clearly visible on many a market floor. Detractors will no doubt disagree with me and call it ‘window dressing’, but this simply isn’t so. Many agencies are employing black South Africans in key positions. And more than 70% of the market agency people I train for their Fresh Produce Commission Salesman’s licence
are black.
Black-owned market agencies are to be found on many markets. Some will succeed and some will fail, which is part of normal business life. The fresh produce market agency business can be deceptive to the uninformed. It might look like easy money, but the reality is different. It’s a hard slog to get a new agency up and running and it takes time to build relationships with producers. And keeping these relationships alive and healthy is a never-ending requirement.
Maturity and commitment
We now have Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) and the department of agriculture, with other government departments, is leading the charge to make the new AgriBEE charter a reality. I’m pleased that market agents are represented on the council and making their contribution, which shows a level of maturity and commitment not seen before. When I listen to these representatives I know that, as far as market agencies are concerned, BBBEE is on track.
