With the Property Sector Charter having originally been gazetted under the BEE Act in 2007, the status of the Property Sector Transformation Charter is that this too is likely to be gazetted in the very near future.  Once it is published in the Government Gazette there are 60 days for public comment and a further 30 days for refinement of the Charter. Following this – and with the anticipated date of implementation being January 2011 – the Charter then becomes enforceable and binding for all the signatories, which includes the Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa.

The Property Sector Transformation Charter has far-reaching implications for the Real Estate Industry in general. In particular, the relevance of this to principals of estate agencies who qualify under the Charter ie those with more than R1 million gross income per annum or with five agents or more in their employ, is that they will be compelled by law to submit an annual BBBEE report to the Charter Council. This report will need to include the enterprise’s score card - verified by an accredited BEE verification agency and an account of progress in achieving the undertakings as set out in the Charter. The report will state their BEE score in terms of the four elements (Codes of Good Practice) which they select out of the seven elements as set out in the Property Charter. These are: ownership, management control, employment equity, skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development, socio-economic development and economic development.

A summary with practical information regarding the Property Sector Transformation Charter can be viewed on the IEASA website (www.ieasa.org.za) and the Institute will be communicating to its members when the Charter is gazetted to enable them to comment timeously. The Institute has also prepared a set of guidelines for members to assist them in respect of the Transformation Scorecard. This contains practical information regarding the implementation of the Charter. In so doing, the Institute seeks to create avenues where members have easy access to the required information in order to become pro-actively involved in the process of transformation and ultimately compliance with the charter.