In trying to develop a black economic empowerment (BEE) charter, the support services sector has faced a difficult challenge.
As in other sectors, many of the companies that fall under the support services section of the JSE Securities Exchange straddle more than one industry.
Companies such as Bidvest, Rebserve and Nampak are involved in a wide range of sectors.
Sector runner-up Adcorp has a different problem - it doesn't quite fall into any of the sector charters already initiated or planned. Nor do groups such as plastics manufacturer Astrapak. However, both companies have outlined empowerment strategies and have concluded empowerment equity deals. Adcorp has sold 25% of the company to a consortium led by the Black Management Forum and entrepreneur Sandile Zungu. Astrapak's empowerment initiative is with Royal Bafokeng Finance, the nonmining division of the tribe's business empire. The BEE codes of good practice should make it easier for companies to draft empowerment strategies. The codes seek to provide clear empowerment criteria. Definitions, measurements and the scope of intended beneficiaries are all discussed in detail. The one big drawback of the codes is that in their attempt to be firm and clear on empowerment they have become overly technical and cumbersome.
Still, the problem of companies whose operations straddle numerous sectors with charters remains.
Some of the companies are considering enterprise charters to deal with the challenge. Bidvest is working on an enterprise charter and Nampak has already produced a draft charter to outline, measure and report on the company's empowerment initiatives.
The comprehensive nature of Nampak's charter gives weight to an award it received from the Black Management Forum as the country's most transformed company - though in our survey the group is ranked only 63rd and fourth in its sector.
The group's empowerment charter includes a scorecard modelled on the department of trade & industry (DTI) scorecard and will use DTI-approved independent auditing companies to measure its empowerment initiatives.
Enterprise charters were first mooted by then trade & industry minister Alec Erwin in 2003 when he announced government's draft BEE policy.
