BEE fronting to become a criminal offence

The Trade and Industry Department is drafting law changes to penalise fronting – appointing black directors or managers without giving them any power, or paying black firms to bid for work which a white company carries out. The department will also set up a whistle-blowing service so that anyone who suspects a company is fronting can lodge a tip-off. Clamping down on phoney empowerment could only be done by changing the law to make fronting illegal, said James Hafizulla, Deputy Directory of the departments Black Economic Empowerment unit. Once the law was changed, the department’s investigation would look at fronting cases. Full Business Day report