| (1) | A person commits an offence if that person knowingly— |
| (a) | misrepresents or attempts to misrepresent the broad-based black economic empowerment status of an enterprise; |
| (b) | provides false information or misrepresents information to a B-BBEE verification professional in order to secure a particular broad-based black economic empowerment status or any benefit associated with the compliance with this Act; |
| (c) | provides false information or misrepresents information relevant to assessing the broad-based black economic empowerment status of an enterprise to any organ of state or public entity; or |
| (d) | engages in a fronting practice. |
| (2) | A B-BBEE verification professional or any procurement officer or other official of an organ of state or public entity who becomes aware of the commission of, or any attempt to commit, any offence referred to in subsection (1) and fails to report it to an appropriate law enforcement agency, is guilty of an offence. |
| (3) | Any person convicted of an offence in terms of this Act, is liable— |
| (a) | in the case of a contravention of subsection (1), to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years or to both a fine and such imprisonment or, if the convicted person is not a natural person, to a fine not exceeding 10 per cent of its annual turnover; or |
| (b) | in the case of a contravention of subsection (2) or section 13N, to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months or to both a fine and such imprisonment. |
| (4) | For the purpose of determining a fine to be imposed for an offence in terms of subsection (1), the court must take into account the value of the transaction which was derived from, or sought to be derived from, the commission of the offence. |
| (5) | A court in which any person is convicted of an offence in terms of subsection (3) must report the conviction— |
| (b) | to in any other case, to the Council and to that person’s employer. |
| (6) | Despite anything to the contrary contained in any other law, a magistrates’ court has jurisdiction to impose any penalty provided for in this Act. |
[Section 13O inserted by section 8 of Act No. 46 of 2013]
