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Empowerdex (Pty) Ltd is a South African company which provides services related to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) compliance. Founded in 2001, it was an early pioneer in the industry of independent BEE verification and ratings. It also conducts research on BEE uptake and provides private advisory services on BEE compliance.

History

Empowerdex was founded in June 2001 by Witwatersrand University classmates Vuyo Jack and Chia-Chao Wu. They ran the company from Jack's house using Wu's capital and consulted Moody's, the credit rating agency, for advice on their rating methodology. Businessman Brian Joffe, then the CEO of Bidvest, was the first external investor.

In 2005 the Department of Trade and Industry announced plans to require accreditation of BEE ratings agencies, and the following year Empowerdex was one of eight founding members of the Association of BEE Verification Agencies (ABVA), an industry association founded to promote accelerate the accreditation process.

As of 2019, the firm said that it employed over 100 people and had served more than 6,000 companies as clients.

Empowerment rankings

Empowerdex is well known for publishing a ranking of JSE-listed companies which compares their performance across BEE metrics. Empowerdex first announced the ranking initiative in November 2002 and published the first list in March 2003. The following year, it partnered with the Financial Mail to publish the rankings in a special supplement of that newspaper as the Top Empowerment Companies index; the first annual edition, published in April 2004, named Telkom as South Africa's most empowered company and became the Financial Mail's top-selling issue of the year. In later years, Empowerdex compiled the rankings for the Mail & Guardian's Most Empowered Companies index and, most recently, for Sanlam's Transformation Gauge.

Bribery scandal

In March 2019, in testimony before the Zondo Commission, former Bosasa executive Angelo Agrizzi alleged that Bosasa – a prolific state contractor – had paid an Empowerdex employee R40,000 in exchange for favorable BEE ratings. Empowerdex said that it had no knowledge of such a bribe but had initiated an internal investigation. On 4 April 2019, the South African National Accreditation System suspended Empowerdex's BEE accreditation for three months, citing the firm's "failure to comply with some of the accreditation requirements." Empowerdex said that the suspension was linked to Agrizzi's testimony and that it had commissioned an independent forensic investigation. SANAS, however, said that there were prior complaints against the firm pertaining to the accuracy of its verification reports.

At the end of July 2019, Empowerdex reported that the suspension had been lifted in early July, that a SANAS investigation had identified "minor non-conformances," and that the independent investigation into Agrizzi's bribery allegations was ongoing.

References

1. ^ Mahlaka, Ray (2019-04-12). "Agrizzi's testimony loses SA's biggest BEE agency its accreditation". The Citizen. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
2. ^ Monteiro, James (28 January 2010). "Black Jack". News24. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
3. Mtshali, Lihle (11 June 2007). "Over and above being a successful entrepreneur, Jack has recently published a book on BEE codes". The Sowetan. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
4. Jack, Vuyo (6 June 2010). "Entrepreneurs must pursue dreams relentlessly". Sunday Tribune. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
5. "New watchdog to monitor BEE verification". The Mail & Guardian. 2006-02-06. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
6. ^ Magubane, Khulekani (11 April 2019). "B-BBEE verification company has certificate suspended following Agrizzi testimony". News24. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
7. Rose, Rob (5 November 2002). "Empowerdex Seeks to Test the Sincerity of Initiatives". Business Day. Retrieved 24 December 2024 – via allAfrica.
8. Kew, Janice (7 March 2003). "Empowerdex launches BEE survey". News24. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
9. "Which is SA's most empowered company?". Bizcommunity. 19 April 2004. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
10. "Telkom — SA's most empowered company". The Mail & Guardian. 2004-04-30. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
11. "Empowerdex deadline pending". Bizcommunity. 3 February 2005. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
12. "The art and science of measuring empowerment". The Mail & Guardian. 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
13. Buthelezi, Londiwe (18 July 2023). "'Transformation not as advanced as BEE scorecards suggest' – Sanlam report". News24. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
14. Bezuidenhout, Jessica (2019-03-28). "'I'm not surprised': Bosasa whistle-blower Angelo Agrizzi on learning of a death threat". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
15. Magubane, Khulekani (15 April 2019). "Empowerdex still has 3 months to get in line with B-BBEE laws, says regulator". News24. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
16. ^ Mashego, Penelope (14 April 2019). "Gobodo to probe graft claims at BEE agency". Sunday Times. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
17. Magubane, Khulekani (30 July 2019). "We're on top of Bosasa allegations – Empowerdex boss". News24. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
18. Mashego, Penelope (28 July 2019). "Empowerdex back in biz, but Bosasa cloud lingers". Business Day. Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2024-12-24.

• 2001 establishments in South Africa
• Black economic empowerment
• Companies based in Johannesburg