A lengthy process of consultation resulted in the gazetting of the Codes of Good Practice on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (the Codes), against which companies are required to measure themselves.

Given, the extraordinary complexity of the Codes, together with the need to ensure the authenticity of a company's claimed BEE Status, the establishment of a regulated empowerment verification industry was required.

AQRate is one of the country's foremost BEE Verification Agencies, having been officially accredited by the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to conduct BEE verifications. We were established in 2003 to meet the corporate sector's need for a credible empowerment rating agency with national representation and traded as National Empowerment Rating Agency – Western Cape (Pty) Ltd and National Empowerment Rating Agency – KZN (Pty) Ltd until June 2009 where after we re-branded to AQRate.

AQRate is a group of private companies that aims to be the market leader in terms of service, quality, innovation and operational expertise. Our pursuit for excellence is evident from the fact that AQRate (Pty) Ltd which operates in Western Cape and Gauteng and AQRate – KZN (Pty) Ltd accounts for 2 out of the 11 verification agencies that were initially accredited by the DTI. We are also the only verification agency brand in the country that have to date subjected its geographical offices to separate accreditation – a test we have passed with flying colours.

We have the capacity to evaluate enterprises against the official Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) Codes, as well as various sector charters, with particular expertise in the listed corporate environment.

Acknowledging the importance of high-level financial and legal skills to a credible verification audit, our team comprises of auditing, legal and commercial experts.

This means that we would, for example, have the capacity to understand and dissect the most complex funding arrangements and/or transactions, as is required in certain verification processes. These skills are backed by the highest levels of confidentiality and a commitment to “bringing the client along with us” through the process.

Our experience, professional expertise and specialised Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) knowledge have, in a relatively short space of time, gained us the respect of our peers in industry and government, earning us recognition as industry authorities and commentators on B-BBEE.

All AQRate branches are separate legal entities with each having their own B-BBEE Status. All AQRate’s are superior BEE contributors (Level 4 and above) and all AQRate's are black empowered.

Such is our commitment to ensuring the credibility of this fledging industry that we were a founder member of the Association of BEE Verification Agencies (ABVA), the DTI- recognized industry body dedicated to maintaining high standards in the verification industry.

Two AQRate directors, Chris Van Wyk and Brigitte Brun, are elected ABVA Board Members. As such Chris is the verification industry’s representative on technical and interpretational matters at the Joint Technical Committee between the DTI and ABVA. Brigitte in turn is responsible for the training initiatives of ABVA and the human resources development of the industry.

While we were still operating as NERA we were awarded the Top 500 Companies Award for being the top verification agency in the country (the verification industry).

The AQRate KZN branch also hosts the prestigious annual Alec Rogoff B-BBEE Awards in association with the Durban Chamber of Commerce and The Mercury.

AQRate currently has offices in Gauteng, Western Cape, Kwazulu-Natal and Limpopo with more offices planned nationally. This national presence affords us the market presence associated with a true market leader and national player. 

Our Clients

We provide verification and other services to numerous large listed and unlisted South African corporations, government organisations and small to medium-sized businesses. Herewith a list of some of our more prominent clients.

AFRIMAT LIMITED (JSE Listed)
AFRISAM (HOLCIM CEMENT)
BHP BILLITON LIMITED (JSE-Listed)
BRANDHOUSE
COROBRIK
DISCOVERY HOLDINGS (JSE-listed)
DISTELL LIMITED (JSE-Listed)
ENGEN LIMITED
JAN S DE VILLIERS INC.
HULAMIN (JSE-listed)
IMPERIAL HOLDINGS GROUP
KWEZI V3 ENGINEERS
KWV LIMITED (JSE-Listed)
MASANA PETROLEUM
METROPOLITAN HEALTH CORPORATE
METROPOLITAN LIMITED (JSE-Listed)
NEDBANK (JSE-listed)
OLD MUTUAL SOUTH AFRICA LIMITED (JSE-listed)
SANDVIK CONSTRUCTION
SANLAM (JSE-listed)
SANLAM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
SANTAM
SAPREF
SENTECH
SHELL SOUTH AFRICA MARKETING
SHELL SOUTH AFRICA REFINING
TONGAAT HULETT LIMITED (JSE-listed)
UNITRANS FUEL AND CHEMICAL
UNITRANS GROUP
VITAL HEALTH FOODS

(References are available on request)

Services

B-BBEE verification

BEE verification is an independent assurance process aimed at verifying and validating the Broad-Based BEE status of a legal entity. It is the most accurate, independent and cost-effective way for businesses to establish and present their BEE status. A certificate confirming the measured enterprise status is issued to the client at the end of this process.

Supplier BEE training & awareness

Most suppliers have insufficient knowledge of the Black Economic Empowerment framework; with better information these service providers can easily boost their levels of BEE compliance. This will, in turn, impact positively on the Preferential Procurement score of all those procuring from them.

Management BEE training

Many companies are unfamiliar with the intricacies of good BEE management. Our services aim to educate and enable personnel within to deal with a relatively complex set of regulations. Focus areas include planning and executing BEE programmes, record keeping and preparing for verifications.

Pre-deal ownership verification

Many companies are seeking BEE partners in order to fulfill the ownership criteria of the BEE scorecard. Our pre-deal ownership verification allows companies to independently verify the ownership points that will be obtained on the BEE scorecard should such a deal materialise. The service is generally provided to companies, banks and private equity firms.

The rules relating to BEE verification prohibits a verification agency from verifying the BEE status of a business after it has consulted with such a business on BEE. This rule exists to eliminate potential conflict of interests during the verification process. AQRate takes great care to ensure that once it has consulted with a client on BEE that it refrains from being involved in that client's verification

Contact

Website: www.aQrate.co.za

WESTERN CAPE

Phone: 021 949 4612
Fax: 021 949 4696
Email: wcape@aQrate.co.za

KWAZULU NATAL

Phone: 031 563 7788
Fax: 086 669 7032
Email: kzn@aQrate.co.za

OTHER REGIONS

Phone: 0861 277283