On Friday 10th June, the Saldanha Bay IDZ Licencing Company (SBIDZ-LC) held their second annual Suppliers Awareness Day at the Protea Hotel in Saldanha Bay. The purpose of the event was to provide general feedback around enterprise development, the progress of the IDZ’s infrastructure and opportunities, as well as the policy changes from National Treasury’s Supply Chain Management landscape affecting local businesses. The day saw wide representation from stakeholders from the business development community and was attended by over 100 delegates.
The SBIDZ-LC is the official public entity operator of the SBIDZ, and is mandated to develop the Zone in line with the strategic framework of the South African Government, driven by the National Development Plan (NDP), the Department of Trade and Industry’s Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) and Operation Phakisa and Project Khulisa - results-driven approach programmes to fast-track the implementation of solutions on critical development issues. The Oceans Economy is one area of both Operation Phakisa and Khulisa.
The SBIDZ-LC has plans to develop a world-class Marine and Oilfield Services Hub in response to the global demand for dedicated repair and maintenance ports strategically positioned to service rigs and vessels working off the East and West African coasts.
Supply chain reforms
The National Treasury has issued 9 instruction notes for the 2016/17 financial year effective from the 1st April 2016. Of these changes, only tree are applicable to businesses and it was these changes that were communicated to attendees last Friday: All suppliers who wish to conduct business with the SBIDZ-LC need now to be actively registered on National Treasury’s Central Suppliers Database, and tenders above R500 000 can only be accessed via the e-Tender Portal and the Government Tender Bulletin, and lastly, that Commissioner of Oath signed B-BBEE Affidavits are acceptable in the absence of a certified BBBEE Certificate.
Abigail Murray, Associate for Enterprise Development says business owners need to take the necessary steps in ensuring that their companies are complaint. She said businesses must remember that in addition two to these new changes, businesses must still be registered on the Western Cape Supplier’s Database (WCSD) as that requirement from Provincial Treasury is still in place.