How to become a Citypower Supplier

The purpose of this document is to outline City Power's Black Economic Empowerment Policy with the aim to advance the company's vision of being a world-class electricity utility striving for economic and social development in the region.

Objectives

City Power intends:

To contribute to economic empowerment both by delivering the best electricity service and raising the highest possible revenues for the City of Johannesburg.

To ensure that historically disadvantaged individuals achieve full participation and involvement in businesses that support City Power in the distribution of electricity.

To develop and/or establish new, sustainable businesses with black entrepreneurs, through the commercialization process.

Principles

The following guiding principles underpin City Power's quest for Black Economic empowerment:

Integrity and Transparency

Impartiality through objectivity and fairness

Sustainable business partners

Open Tendering

Confinement

Efficiency and Professionalism

Supplier Accreditation

City Power shall ensure that all procurement is made through businesses that demonstrate
compliance with all applicable labour, tax and company legislation, including Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Employment Equity Act, Skills Development Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

All suppliers will be taken through a complete accreditation process to determine their legal compliance and BEE status. Accredited companies will constitute our central supplier database where source lists will be generated for the procurement of goods and services.

Simplified Procurement Process

City Power will create and distribute to business organisations advancing BEE, a simple booklet describing opportunities and application processes for BEE procurement. Other methods of disseminating information such as the tender bulletin board, local newspapers and our website will be utilised.

The users of the required goods and services will, with Supply Chain Management (SCM) and BEE Practitioners, be required to break down all appropriate work into practical contract components which will facilitate the the participation of tenders from HDI's. The users of the required goods and services will, with SCM and BEE practitioners , strive to ensure that specifications are made more understandable and are based only on the minimum requirements for the job in order to facilitate participation of HDI's.

Mentorship and Enterprise Development

To ensure the sustainability, development and growth of BEE suppliers, City Power will utilize the following strategies:

Quality Assurance Assistance

City Power will share its quality assurance and control practices with its BEE suppliers in order to ensure the best quality of goods and services are supplied to the company.

Early payment Cycles for BEE Suppliers

City Power will make special arrangements to make early payment to enterprises whose special circumstances may require it. Such interim payments will be made on the recommendation of the GM: BEE and on the authorization of the Vice President: Commercial and may be made 14 days after receipt of invoice and certification of completion of work.

Joint Ventures/Bee Opportunities

In cases where there are suitably qualified BEE companies, which lack the capacity to carry out the total contract, City Power may utilise different procurement mechanisms to ensure their participation (as per procurement policy).

City Power will proactively forge and facilitate joint ventures between large and small suppliers or between a number of small suppliers to supply goods and services.

Information about BEE suppliers in the City Power database will be disseminated to traditional suppliers looking for joint venture partners.

Where monopolies, oligopolies and sole suppliers or exclusive suppliers of goods or services to City Power exist, the company may require that the supplier breaks down the contract into logical component parts in order to facilitate procurement of a stated percentage of the contract value from HDI's.

A BEE participation target will be stipulated on all contracts in line with the identified extent of BEE suppliers' participation potential.

BEE Promotiona and Supplier Development

The promotion of BEE, describes City Power's programme to provide mentorship and development to the BEEs it does business with. The programme includes (1) assigning an established resource with existing training capacity to oversee the development of BEE suppliers, and (2) establishing an enterprise learning network for BEE suppliers to interact and exchange ideas and best practices around service delivery and performance challenges.

City Power recognises that the development of BEE suppliers to provide required services and to be sustainable in the long term, is possibly the most attractive way in which to provide opportunities for the companies owned by historically disadvantaged Individuals.

City Power's BEE utilisation plans and the mentoring programme have been established to ensure that the necessary skills transfer and capacity building are provided. City Power has developed its approach to the EDI to include maximum use of historically disadvantaged suppliers as service providers.

City Power will request some of our larger suppliers to act as mentor companies responsible for training and support for its BEE suppliers.

Furthermore, City Power will, where necessary, set aside resources to provide training and development programmes for enterprises owned by Historically Disadvantaged Individuals. The cost to be incurred in this activity will be stipulated by the Board from time to time at the annual review targets.

The BEE division will provide support services to entities submitting Tenders from HDI's in order , where appropriate, to:

Provide pre and post support.

Assist with negotiating arrangements with financial institutions.

Encourage and directly assist in the formation of companies to supply goods and services to City Power.

Give advice with respect to matters such as quality, production, procurement, finance etc.

Supplier Performance Audit

Strict compliance with legislation on procurement and labour relations.

City Power will on a regular basis monitor and evaluate suppliers in order to ensure that they meet commitments to improved employment equity, economic empowerment and compliance with labour, tax and company laws.

Second Tier Procurement

In reaching agreement on contracts with traditional suppliers in sectors where there are no suitably qualified BEE suppliers , City Power will make specific and temporary exceptions to its affirmative procurement imperatives and principles. In all such cases, City Power will obligate those traditional suppliers either to:

Develop and execute employment equity policies.

Identify BEE suppliers to provide goods in question and mentor that BEE to ensure its sustainability.

Forge joint ventures with BEE companies.

All traditional suppliers shall understand that extension of supply agreements will strictly depend on their meeting employment equity and economic empowerment benchmarks that are agreeable to City Power.

Advancement of Women in Business

Additional SME opportunities that are ideal for women entrepreneurs will be determined and confined for women participation as set aside.

Accountability and Responsibility

• BEE and Supply Chain General Managers will be accountable for the implementation of this policy.
• The General Manager: BEE will provide quarterly reports on BEE to EXCO and thereafter to the Board on the successes and shortcomings of the application of the policy.

Reviews

This Document shall be reviewed and updated with all amendments annually or as and when necessary by the Commercial Services Group.