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Table of material issues and stakeholders affected

Chapter	Material issue			Stakeholders affected		Current status and response
Corporate governance report		Integration of corporate ethics		Shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, regulatory bodies		The Altron code of ethics and code of conduct are now aligned with the corporate gifts and entertainment policy, and all donations to political parties have to be approved by shareholders. No donations were made to political parties during the period under review. Refer here . . .
Customers		Meeting the evolving needs of customers		Customers, shareholders, employees		Our policy is to instil a culture of innovation through rewards and recognition programmes that identify and encourage innovators.
		Expansion of the customer base		Customers, shareholders, employees		Altron regards the economic downturn as an opportunity to gain market share for the continued sustainability of the business. Foreign revenue and exports equal 25% of total revenue.
		Customer service		Customers, shareholders, employees		We are improving the accuracy of customer monitoring systems, and the effectiveness of our response to areas of customer dissatisfaction.
		Liberalisation of the telecommunications market		Shareholders and all stakeholders in the value added statement, including government		Following Altech’s successful court action, liberalisation of the market has begun and the industry now awaits regulation by ICASA for obtaining access to scarce spectrum for broadband communication services.
		IT risk		Customers, shareholders, employees		Created the Altron Information Management Council to manage inherent IT risk within the organisation.
Partners		Maintaining key agency/principal relationships		Suppliers, customers, shareholders		We are working hard to fulfil our part in agreements where technical resource targets need to be met and generally staying abreast of rapid technological changes.
		Maintaining product quality from outsourced suppliers		Suppliers, customers, shareholders		Quality standards are defined in service level agreements and controls are in place to monitor quality of products against international industry standards.
		Foreign direct imports and dumping		Suppliers, customers, shareholders, government		We constantly research the market to ensure that local supply partners are competitive with best international practice.
Employees		Skills attraction, development and retention		Employees, prospective employees, shareholders, government		Our total investment in skills training during 2008 amounted to R56 million, representing an average of R5 085 per employee.
		Human rights in operations outside of South Africa		Suppliers, partners, distributors		Altron monitors operations in areas vulnerable to human rights abuses to ensure compliance with international human rights standards.
		Health and Safety		Employees, customers		An independent audit is conducted quarterly to monitor health and safety risks throughout the group. No significant accidents or injuries were reported, and there were no fatalities.
		HIV/Aids		Employees, their families and communities related to Altron		Research into the potential risk of HIV/Aids throughout the group showed a prevalence rate of between 5% and 11%. Our policy upholds the rights of all employees to care and protection against discrimination.
Transformation		Transformation at Ownership level		Shareholders and all stakeholders in the value-added statement, including government		The group scored 11.46 out of 20 in terms of Ownership on the dti CoGP (compared with 8.9 last year), and most companies have been brought over the 25.1% B-BBEE ownership threshold.
		Transformation through Management Control		Shareholders and all stakeholders in the value-added statement, including government		Altron scored 2.62 out of 10 for Management Control against 4.4 last year, representing our greatest challenge across the dti CoGP. Board representation has improved this past year.
		Transformation through Employment Equity (EE)		Historically disadvantaged employees and all stakeholders in the value-added statement, including government		EE is one of Altron’s most difficult transformation challenges and the group currently scores 5.1 out of a possible 15 points for this code (against 4.46 last year).We are driving the implementation of EE plans across the group.
		Transformation through Skills Development		Historically disadvantaged employees, prospective employees in the value added statement, including shareholders, government		Altron scores 11.9 out of a possible 15 points for skills development on the B-BBEE scorecard compared to 4.46 last year. High-potential employees are being targeted for career development.
		Transformation through Preferential Procurement		Historically disadvantaged suppliers and all stakeholders in the value added statement, including government		Altron scores 14.2 out of 20 for preferential procurement on the B-BBEE scorecard, up from 12.6 last year. Verification of suppliers’ B-BBEE status has improved, but more work needs to be done to increase spend on black-owned and black female-owned enterprises.
		Transformation through Enterprise Development		Historically disadvantaged businesses and all stakeholders in the value added statement, including government		Altron scores its full 15 points for this element of the scorecard. Altech is addressing challenges in specific companies within its stable.
		Transformation through Socio-Economic Development (SED)		Communities that relate to Altron, society at large and government		Altron scores its full five points for SED, meeting its target of 1% of NPAT.
Environment		Carbon footprint		All stakeholders to the business		PWC contracted to conduct an environmental impact assessment and calculate the carbon footprint of the entire group.
		Pollution and emissions		All stakeholders to the business		Progress is being monitored at all Powertech operations as well as at other high impact companies in the group by external consultants. There were no significant incidents in the review period.
		Energy efficiency		All stakeholders to the business		Altron’s energy consumption was 115 030 473 KwH. Savings are being made to reduce consumption by 10% without affecting operations, as per the government’s electricity rationing plan.
		Product responsibility		All stakeholders to the business		Several companies with consumer products have assessed the potential impacts of their products and devised solutions to ensure that they do not harm society at large, or the environment at any point in their life cycle.