Empowerment
ABO SOFTWARE – EMPOWERMENT
PHILOSOPHY
Introduction
South Africa, over the past 50 years, was dominated by the system of Apartheid
which deliberately, legislatively and systematically ensured the economic
marginalisation of black people (African, Coloured and Indians).ABO Software are
committed to achieve broad based black economic empowerment within the group
and, using the Department of Trade and Industry’s (the dti) guidelines, have
voluntarily compiled this policy document which outlines the strategy to attain
this goal. This strategy document is part of the overall corporate strategy for
ABO Software.
The ICT sector has identified the need for industry specific initiatives, which
will result in the formulation of co-ordinated and sustainable programmes to
bridge the “digital divide” and to ensure that corporate social investment is
implemented within a set of sustainable long term objectives.
ABO Software appreciates the history and fully believe in the merits of broad
based black economic empowerment due to the following key issues:-
The main strategic focus areas:
Ownership
- We are committed to sourcing a local partner, who can bring synergy and add
value to our organisation. It is our intention to provide any future partners
with appropriate equity.
HR development and employment equity
- As our organisation grows we will provide an infrastructure that allows for
PDI(all black people, including women, workers, youth, people with disabilities
and people living in rural areas) and existing employees to fast track into more
senior roles.
- Our long term aim is to create an organisation that reflects the South African
demographic, to achieve this we will:
Ensure our recruitment policies favour PDI
Invest in training and development, including learnerships, to develop our
employee base and provide growth opportunities.
We have created an Empowerment Training Fund, to which we are committed to
allocating a dedicated percentage of our operating revenue set aside for
employee development. The aim of this fund is to enable PDI’s to join us on a
learnership and thereby gain practical experience and skills transfer.
We have a dedicated services SETA recognised internal moderator accountable for
encouraging learnerships and obtaining NQF recognition for employee development
at all levels.
We implement employee driven performance management, which includes regular one
to one feedback, formal reviews and a personal development plan.
Preferential Procurement
- Our policy is to acquire 80% of discretionary procurement from BE
Organisations, with a focus on grass roots developing businesses.
- We recognise that a large proportion of businesses are currently implementing
BE policies and will only work with those fully committed to transformation.
Enterprise Development
- We will provide our software to local schools and educational establishments
for a nominal fee, to encourage learner development with the latest technology.
- In instances where potential clients can demonstrate that they are developing
BEE organisations, we will negotiate special terms. We have specific programmes
to target these organisations and actively collaborate with the relevant
industry governing bodies.
Conclusion
We trust that the policies above give you a broad understanding of ABO
Software's efforts and strategy to enhance broad based BEE within our company.
In the process of defining what areas to focus our resources on, we believed
that the following high level key issues were to be borne in mind at all times:
Any policy to be implemented needs to be broad-based (economic empowerment of
all black people, including women, workers, youth, people with disabilities and
people living in rural areas) real empowerment (vs. issue of elitism and
enrichment of a select few) that leads to a transformation of the South African
economy
Policies must deal with issues relevant to the industry within which the company
operates
Objectives must be aimed at redressing the imbalances of the past
Policies must be effectively implemented and monitored to assess effectiveness
and measured with respect to attainment of goals set by the company
The goals must be measurable and meaningful in light of the following key
documents:
The Information and Communication Technology Charter, Fourth Working Draft
Release 2, August 2004
The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2003 (which came into operation
on the 9th January 2004)
First Draft Code of Good Practice Issued in terms of section 9 of the
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2003
Strategy Document for Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment in terms of section
11 of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2003
The BEE Commission Report - the final report as published by the BEE commission.
The Employment Equity Act No. 55 of 1998.
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