The report states that companies train and develop junior staff with a focus on the 4IR.
A box-ticking approach, as well as outright fronting, contributes to B-BBEE scores that are a skewed representation of underlying transformation in the economy. This is according to Colin Anthony, general manager at Intellidex in the recently released Sanlam Gauge report.
The new consolidated research report aims to provide a holistic sectoral measurement of economic transformation in South Africa that accounts for all elements of B-BBEE, on an annual basis. It is expected that the information will assist CHROs with new strategies for inclusivity, growth, and transformation.
The report, covering 3,154 businesses, covers the five main scorecard elements, then focuses on the sector codes and issues specific to each sector are highlighted.
Findings within the scorecard elements include:
- Enterprise & supplier development: 84.92 percent of the target met.
- Ownership: Scored 85.56 percent of the target for all companies.
- Management control: At 57.99 percent, it is the lowest across all sectors.
- Skills development: At 76.15 percent, is the third-highest scoring category in the research, indicating. a fair amount of progress in terms of training of staff
- Socio-economic development: 101.57 percent.
Management control trails at the back of the queue in terms of the scorecard elements, and it is expected that the Employment Equity Commission will become more active in ensuring this is addressed.
“One common refrain is that skilled black personnel are in high demand so it is difficult both to hire them and retain them. Prejudice is raised as another factor. Companies are also accused of not doing enough to train and develop junior staff. One proposal to address this is to recruit people who have a willingness to learn, develop and grow and then be groomed for promotion, rather than focus only on recruiting already qualified people,” the report reads.
Vuyo Jack, the co-founder of B-BEEE rating agency Empowerdex, provided the example of black entrepreneur Sipho Nkosi, who invested in talent by focusing on the skills development of South Africans to prepare them for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
“The legacy-building lessons are evident in the formation of Eyesizwe Coal culminating in a re-dreaming phase of Exxaro Coal and a further re-dreaming leading to developing talent,” he said.
Under the concept of Ubuntu Capitalism 2.0, which encompasses value creation, value capture and value circulation, Vuyo also referenced the climate change crisis.
“Ubuntu capitalism has wider application outside of the black empowerment framework, for example in climate change. The equitable way to deal with climate change by the vulnerable is to find pockets of creating value that result in equitable distribution of value for the most affected while driving economic growth with a significant decrease in emissions. The value capture mechanism must be based on fairness and meritocracy for all parties affected by climate change,” he said.
