Empowering Suppliers – what you need to know

Are CoGP certificates deemed to be Empowering?

CoGP certificates have been deemed to automatically be awarded Empowering supplier status by the Dti in gazette number 38799 of 15/05/2015. This is not to be confused with Value Adding Supplier status. Value Adding Status in not related to Empowering status at all and if a Certificate states value adding yes/no, it has no effect on Empowering status.

Validity of CoGP scorecards on the Procurement element in Enterprise and Supplier Development Element.

The codes say that if a certificate is valid for at least one day within the measurement period that the certificate will be used at verification for the entire period under review. Therefore, a CoGP certificate can continue to be used until such time that it is not applicable to period under review. This means that we will still be able to use CoGP certificates in 2017 verifications depending on the expiry dates of the CoGP certificates and period under review.

What effect does a CoGP scorecard have on the Preferential Procurement score in RCoGP?

The effects of all the above mentioned conditions mean that a Company will score higher points in the Procurement element using CoGP certificates until such time that there are no more CoGP certificates valid within the measurement period and all supplier have provided Certificates based on the RCoGP. The reason that the Company will score higher points is because of the differences in achievement points per level between the CoGP and the RCoGP.

Based on the above comparison, if we had a supplier who scored 60 points on the CoGP scorecard (Level 4) and that supplier retained 60 points on the RCoGP, they would drop to a Level 7 automatically without changing anything. This means that previously where you could have recognised 100% of expenditure on the supplier, you will now only get 50% recognition. To add to the dilemma, the 50% recognition would only be awarded if the supplier is an Empowering supplier. 

When will I see the full effects of the RCoGP in Preferential Procurement?

You should have started to see the effects already, but by the end of 2017 all CoGP certificates will most likely have been phased ourt by RCoGP certifcates.

What can I do?

As described above the RCoGP certificates will have a negative impact on the Preferential Procurement scorecard. The best way to manage the situation is to drive awareness through your supply chain describing what the changes between the CoGP and RCoGP are and also what an Empowering supplier is and how to obtain Empowering supplier status. We have come across various companies that are aware of the changes between CoGP and RCoGP and we have found that many of these companies are not aware of the implications of Empowering supplier status. These effect are very real and also apply to B-BBEE Sector Charters.