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Cape Town - The energy department has commissioned an independent audit to determine the extent to which the industry is complying with the petroleum and liquid fuels charter, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said on Thursday.
The audit was necessary to manage the "somewhat distorted and contradictory assertions" by some signatories to the charter, she told a media briefing at parliament.
It would provide a comprehensive, independent and representative assessment of the state of transformation within the industry against the targets contained in the charter, she said.
The audit would determine whether signatories were acting in compliance with previous evaluation reports, and identify bottlenecks in implementing the charter and the interventions required.
It would also develop some form of standardised criteria to assess and monitor transformation and compliance with the charter throughout the value chain, Peters said.
"As we announce this exercise, we are not oblivious to the fact that some strides have been made in achieving some of the low-hanging targets of the charter.
"The scope of this exercise entails an audit of compliance which will be based on the latest financial information, as at or close to the period ending October 31 2010, pertaining to the achievement of transformation in all elements of the... charter," she said.
It was necessary to determine:
The audit was necessary to manage the "somewhat distorted and contradictory assertions" by some signatories to the charter, she told a media briefing at parliament.
It would provide a comprehensive, independent and representative assessment of the state of transformation within the industry against the targets contained in the charter, she said.
The audit would determine whether signatories were acting in compliance with previous evaluation reports, and identify bottlenecks in implementing the charter and the interventions required.
It would also develop some form of standardised criteria to assess and monitor transformation and compliance with the charter throughout the value chain, Peters said.
"As we announce this exercise, we are not oblivious to the fact that some strides have been made in achieving some of the low-hanging targets of the charter.
"The scope of this exercise entails an audit of compliance which will be based on the latest financial information, as at or close to the period ending October 31 2010, pertaining to the achievement of transformation in all elements of the... charter," she said.
It was necessary to determine:
- The ownership definition of the charter, and whether there was a 25% equity participation and ability to exercise voting rights and obligations accruing under such ownership by historically disadvantaged South Africans;
- Whether there had been a supportive and an enabling environment in the procurement process, including crude oil, by previously disadvantaged people;
- The extent to which the industry's skills gap was closed;
- The extent of broad-based economic empowerment and women's representation and participation across the value chain; and
- The constraints and the sustainability of transactions, including those of black fuel retailers, in terms of long-term viability and adaptability through presence across the liquid fuels value chain.
The audit would also determine what ventures were entered into over the 10-year period, and if they were still profitable.
