In his budget speech on 24 February 2016, Pravin Gordhan confirmed that applications to the value of R12-billion has been approved by The Jobs Fund. The franchise industry is part of that R12-billion and in conjunction with Business Partners, SA Franchise Warehouse is proud to announce that grant funding has been negotiated for qualified BEE franchisees who wish to enter into partnership with existing franchisees for new outlets within established franchised networks. The objective is to encourage partnerships between existing experienced franchisees within stable franchise networks and a BEE operating partner. The own contribution requirement for the funding of a new outlet will be 10% of the set-up cost of the franchise, and the 90% funding will be a blend of a commercial loan and grant funding from The Jobs Fund. Although the grant is ultimately repayable, it attracts no interest and only has to be repaid once the commercial loan is paid in full, regardless of the loan term...

Xolani Qubeka Reviving the spirit of BEE On the eve of the application of the revised Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment legislation on 1 May and its far reaching changes expected to speed up transformation, industry players look at whether BEE achieves what it set out to, and what needs to shift to facilitate true growth and participation in the SA economy.   It has been criticised for benefitting the rich and well connected, and for excluding the previously advantaged from employment opportunities, this ultimately led to the 2007 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment legislation, and the revised legislation scheduled to come into effect next month. But is Black Economic Empowerment working? “The challenge with BEE in general is that it was designed as a compliance instrument rather than an enforcement of economic transformation, and as a result there have been many unintended consequences,” says Xolani Qubeka, secretary general of the Black Business Council. Spea...