Transformation
and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) are among
the key building blocks of our group strategy.
As a company which considers itself a proud
product of this country and one that is deeply
rooted in the African continent, we embrace the
economic empowerment of all our people while
taking into account our divided past.
In so doing, we are prepared to roll up our
sleeves and become actively involved in the
process in order to ensure that all our
employees are familiar with the group’s strategy
with regards to transformation in
its most detailed form. This approach of open
communication and consultation is “the Altron
way”.
It is our view that once a policy is adopted
which will increase our shareholder value, we
seek to pursue it in every possible way. It is
this drive and dedication in our approach that
sets us apart and has ensured our success, even
in times of severe market depression.
We
embraced this challenge several years ago when
we were among the first companies to conclude a
BEE transaction in 1997. Since then we steadily
continued on this path and, during the past six
years, have entered into more than a dozen BEE
equity partnerships throughout our group with a
variety of empowerment companies. The
publication of our Altron Transformation Vision
2010 (Vision 2010) document, issued ahead of the
ICT Charter, confirms Altron as one of the
leaders in our industry in terms of embracing
BEE.
We are the first, however, to admit that along
the way we have made our fair share of mistakes
and so have some of our BEE partners.
On the other hand, we have also achieved
significant business benefits through our
partnerships. It is through these failures and
successes that we have learned the value of
mistakes and, based on our hands-on approach, we
continually learn and strive to improve.
It has been said that “change is the only
constant in life”. This is also true in
business. The management of change should,
therefore, be a full-time occupation of the
leadership of a business, which is constantly
required to look beyond the immediate future of
the enterprise and ensure its continued
existence and growth.
While nobody can definitely predict the
socio-political and economic arena within which
the business enterprise will operate in the
future, there are always a few indicators or
so-called safeguarding factors.
In South Africa it is safe to assume that the
main features for economic and political
activity in the foreseeable future will be:
– economic growth;
– redistribution; and
– transformation.
The collective aim of business and political
leaders must involve the achievement of
sustainable growth of their businesses and of
the country as a whole. A related mission is the
redistribution of the proceeds of that growth
across society so as to achieve a maximum level
of skills and participation in the economy
thereby ensuring stability. However, because of
the history of the country, the structure of the
economy and, in particular, the racial divide in
income and living standards, the biggest
challenge is to systematically and orderly
redress the economic imbalance of the past
within a climate of relative stability.
It must be acknowledged that “the business of
business is business”. Business is about value
creation for its stakeholders. But it must be
remembered that business can only make profits
within a particularly favourable environment and
that one of the most important stakeholders of
big business is the wider community.
South African business leaders have been
criticised for lacking the requisite awareness
of the social and political setting in which
they expect to run profitable businesses. Given
the political vibrancy of South Africa, this
must be viewed as a weakness which, if not
addressed, will be reflected on the bottom line
of companies.
It is these realities of our beloved country
that have led to our pioneering work to
formulate this home-grown vision for our group
which will serve to guide us through the
transformation.
I am pleased to report that the Vision 2010 has
been formally approved by the Altron Board. In
doing so the commitment by the boards and
executive committees of all the group companies
was confirmed to work closely with the
Transformation Committee in ensuring that the
policies contained in the Vision 2010 are
implemented effectively and successfully
throughout our group.
Robert Venter
Chief Executive Officer
