I respect Empowerdex, as one of the first BEE consulting/rating firms. They have a very good name and I refer many clients to them. However I'm concerned that they still seem so hung up on their own rating system - A,AA,B,C etc. In today's The Star, there is a half page colour advert from Glenrand MIB advertising that Empowerdex has given them an A rating.

The codes of good practice, published nearly a year ago talk about levels, based on a scorecard. So, if you get over 100% (theoretically possible) you will be a level 1 contributor going up to level 8 if your score is between 30 and 40 points. Nowhere do the codes mention an A or B or AA or AAA rating system. This rating system is used only by Empowerdex, and HAS TO CHANGE once the codes are finalised and ratings agencies are finally accredited. I see something a bit wrong about Empowerdex using their own rating system - particularly since Vuyo Jack, the CEO of Empowerdex has been so involved in setting up the codes in the first place. It does make complete sense to me. Why not use BEE levels?

A company that advertises, like Glenrand MID has, that it has a rating of A or AA etc is wasting their money. A rating of "A" means absolutely nothing in terms of the latest codes.

There is actually a table that you can use to roughly convert the Empowerdex ratings to the true BEE levels. I'll try to find it and put it up here.