SA Profile Volume 3 - 2020

PROFILE COMPANY

SA PROFILE Profiling South African Business

Volume 3 n 2020

The future of organisation structure Kickstart international expansion

Invincible Valves company culture intrinsic to success

a g n i t p Ado l a i n n e l mil t e s d n i m

www.saprofilemagazine.co.za

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Insights for Entrepreneurial Leaders

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Foreword 2

Despite the ever-rising unemployment figures which continue to dog SA’s economy, the country’s march towards re-industrialisation as a means of creating more jobs continues.

We are working hard to include amongst our members, not only SMMEs who can most benefit from our value proposition, but also larger corporations that represent many jobs. Membership benefits for these labour intensive companies include those which accrue to their enterprise and supplier development beneficiaries, business to business networking opportunities and our work in lobbying at industry association, government and institutional level on issues including tariff adjustments and trade conditions.

In these days of consumer hyper awareness of social causes, from the eradication of single use plastic to other environmental sensitivities, large companies with a social and environmental conscience seeking profit for purpose can benefit from their membership of Proudly SA. The use of our logo demonstrates their good corporate citizenship, playing their role in job creation, the growth of the economy and in responsible environmental practices.

A move away from “working in silos” towards collaboration is something which we promote amongst our members. Inter member trade - buying and supplying to each other creates great synergies from which many are already benefitting.

Recent visits that we have undertaken to larger manufacturing companies to witness job creation in action, include visits to Lasher Tools, a 90 year old manufacturer of garden and agricultural tools based in Gauteng, employing just under 80 staff. Old school yet innovative, Lasher Tools is a prime example of a company employing entire families over more than one generation.

Bliss Brands started in 2003 manufacturing hand washing powder. Today they also produce powders for automatic washing machines, softeners, bleaches, household cleaners and soaps and employ around 600 staff. Twizza carbonated drinks and Crickley Dairy, based in Queenstown, are also long-established family run businesses which started in the Eastern Cape but which have expanded to employ 1000 employees in three provinces.

New entrants into the SA market is Mara Phones, opened in October by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Dube Tradeport Special Economic Zone in KZN. This is the first locally manufactured smart phone in South Africa, creating jobs for women and youth. In the first year it employed more than 300 employees, increasing to over 1 000 by year five, with many more indirect jobs created as a result of an entirely locally sourced supply chain.

When we add just these companies’ employment complement together, we reach around 2 500 individuals, with many more family members supported by these jobs.

The ultimate message is that these and every other local company, manufacturing, growing and producing local goods and services deserves to be supported by each and every one of us.

As business owners looking to procure the items required for the running of an operation - to every consumer of white goods, clothing and groceries – we appeal to you to buy local to create much-needed jobs in our country.

Eustace Mashimbye, CEO of Proudly SA

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flying

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Editor’s Note 4

Applying a positive mindset and a go-getter attitude to everything we take on as entrepreneurs is the only way to success. In this edition, we unpack a vast amount of useful content to help alleviate business obstacles and to address issues that can strengthen your ability to adopt a positive mindset and grow your business.

As the saying goes, ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’.

Something I have learned over the past few years is that taking action to implement strategies to encourage teamwork and incentivise employees is of utmost importance for business growth. We are still facing so many uncertainties with regards to economic challenges, but laying low is not going to rescue any situation you might find yourself in. One has to make sure to make the best of every work day. Make sure your business is noticed by your target audience. And one of the best ways to do this is to never stop advertising.

Make use of multiple platforms to create brand awareness to gain your share in the market.

Last year was not an easy one, but hey, it’s the start of a new decade, new challenges and definitely a year not to lay low. Multiply your business revenue by creating constant brand awareness, collaborate, develop, empower, educate and enforce plans to take part in the fight against unemployment, which is still one of our country’s biggest challenges that requires urgent attention.

I would also like to make use of this opportunity to thank all our contributors who share valuable information with our readers, and last but not least, our advertisers.

May every business grow from strength to strength and may 2020 be the year for change.

Best wishes, Elroy van Heerden editor@saprofilemagazine.co.za

Elroy van Heerden, Publishing Editor

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®

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Inspiring growth through the consistent delivery of solutions that empower our people and our customers.

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Concrete Based Products Industrial Minerals Contracting International

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Commodities

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CONTENTS 6

Foreword: Proudly South Africa.................................................................................................... 2 Editor’s Note......................................................................................................................................... 4 Cover Story: Invincible Valves.................................................................................................... 10 Building the SA brand – investing in Proudly South African products......................... 16 Strengthen your presence as a female entrepreneur in SA.............................................. 18 Adopting a millennial mindset – how to run a socially conscious business............... 24 How does social media support sales?................................................................................... 28 Better networking can limit fraud losses.................................................................................. 34 Economic slowdown is #1 risk facing organisations......................................................... 42 Digital alone is a poor substitute for the human touch...................................................... 44 Our energy revolution needs the government’s spark....................................................... 48 25 years since democracy – how has SA’s agricultural sector performed?............. 52 Resilience, the future of organizational structure................................................................. 56 Transformation depends on making BEE business-critical................................................ 60 Are you injecting effective processes into an ineffective business system?................ 64 Three ways to kick start your international growth............................................................. 70 Why business owners avoid help in times of need............................................................ 74 Your five-step guide to getting unstuck when in a business rut....................................... 80 Small-scale embedded energy generation: A part of SA’s smart future..................... 84 Closing the gender funding gap................................................................................................ 90 The impact visual & design components have on your profits........................................ 94 Independent experts: Your saviour or your sinker?...........................................................102 Block threats before they target your business....................................................................112 Driving increased revenue for your brand, your vendor & your business................116 Curiosity & tenacity makes this business owner no ‘roll-over’.......................................124

Advertorials

Pearson South Africa – Empowering human progress...................................................... 22 Rhodes University – Choose Rhodes University’s formative degree for flexibility and success........................................................................................................... 32 Rooibos LTD – Heart of the rooibos industry......................................................................... 36 The Transformation Legacy – Why should enterprise development matter................ 40 Shelf Company Warehouse........................................................................................................ 46 AHL Water – Risk management for water services – the silver bullet for our current water woes........................................................................................................ 62 UBANK – Ubank expands its services to the broader working market....................... 67 Out Tasking Procurement Solutions – Delivering a professional shared procurement service..................................................................................................................... 72 Broadsmart – Make digital platforms work to improve your business efficiency........................................................................................................................ 76 Centre for Renewable & Sustainable Energy Studies – Energy Research Programme set to develop human capital.......................................................................... 82 University of Free State – Holistic financial planning education.................................... 87 Omnipresent Global – Providing business with better operational visibility............. 92 PTA Agencies – Quality cleaning products manufactured to a high standard...........................................................................................................................104

Profiles

Mitek Industries – Leading the world of roof truss technology........................................ 26 Rhodes University – where leaders learn................................................................................ 30 The Transformation Legacy – Developing entrepreneurs, changing nations, building legacies.......................................................................................................... 39 Ask Afrika – An icon for female entrepreneurs in Africa.................................................. 99 Twinstar Precast – Precast custom products.........................................................................100 Mdito Business Enterprise – Cleaning & janitorial services business grows into multi-million Rand company..............................................................................109 Pilara Solutions – Tax solutions for start-ups and SME’s.................................................120 Purecorp – Too busy to spa? Pure Corp’s got you sorted!.............................................127

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087 55 111 11 087 55 111 11 Citiq Prepaid_fcp.indd 1

South Africa’s most trusted South Africa’s mostsolution trusted prepaid utilities prepaid utilities solution

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Profiling South African Business

PROFILE COMPANY

SA PROFILE

Publisher

Volume 3 n 2020

Tel: +27 21 424 3625 | Fax: +27 86 516 7277 6 Carlton Crescent Parklands 7441

The future of organisation structure

EDITOR Elroy van Heerden editor@saprofilemagazine.co.za

Kickstart international expansion

AD TRAFFIC – CONTROLLER Melanie Taylor artwork@mediaxpose.co.za

COPY EDITOR Tessa O’Hara tessa.ohara@gmail.com

DESIGN & LAYOUT CDC Design carla@cdcdesign.co.za

Invincible Valves company culture intrinsic to success

ga Adoptin ial millenn t mindse

www.saprofilemagazine.co.za

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Insights for Entrepreneurial Leaders

Photography: Invincible Valves

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Precilla Kalogeropoulos David Morobe Christo Snyman Tony Webster Nathalie Schooling Terry Billson Wandile Sishlobo Deidre Samson Terence Gregory Pam Lewis Leon Coetzer Christian Harbeck Diane Boorman Gugu Mjadu Rudolph Pieterse Allon Raiz Adeshni Rohit Traci Maynard Advertising SALES advertising@saprofilemagazine.co.za MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS Maurisha Niewenhuys maurisha@mediaxpose.co.za SOCIAL MEDIA AND DIGITAL MANAGER Sasha-Jade Burgess digital@mediaxpose.co.za

SA Profile @SA Profile

SOCIAL MEDIA ASSISTANT Kyla van Heerden social@mediaxpose.co.za FINANCIAL OFFICER Shaun Mays accounts@mediaxpose.co.za DISTRIBUTION/SUBSCRIPTIONS Shihaam Gyer distribution@mediaxpose.co.za RECEPTIONIST Daniela Daniels receptionist@mediaxpose.co.za

SA PROFILE Profiling South African Business

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher or its agents. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information published, the publisher does not accept responsibility for any error or omission contained herein.

Consequently, no person connected with the publication of this journal will be liable for any loss or damage sustained by any reader as a result of action following statements or opinions expressed herein. The publisher will give consideration to all material submitted, but does not take responsibility for damage or its safe return.

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COVER STORY INVINCIBLE VALVES

Company culture shouldn’t add stress, but should alleviate work-related stress; it should sustain employee enthusiasm and passion and enhance the company’s productivity.”

Invincible Valves – company culture intrinsic to success From the desk of Pam du Plessis, MD of Invincible Valves Company culture guides discretionary behaviour and picks up where the employee code finishes off. This is the glue that keeps the company together. Culture tells us how to respond to an extraordinary request, it tells us whether to risk telling our leaders about new ideas, and whether to raise or hide problems in the workplace. Our employees make hundreds of decisions on behalf of the organisation during a single workday – the company culture will guide them in making good, solid decisions.

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ulture tells us what to do and how to behave when the CEO isn’t in the room, just like integrity does when you continue doing the right thing, especially when no one is looking.

The workplace should not be a place that your employees dread; instead they should be excited and enthusiastic to be at work every day. Ideally, you want to have a situation where your employees have a hard time leaving work because they enjoy the challenges, their co-workers, the atmosphere and the company’s contribution to the economy. Company culture shouldn’t add stress, but should alleviate work-related stress; it should sustain employee enthusiasm and passion and enhance the company’s productivity.

Culture should be used as a useful tool when it comes to recruiting and finding talented people to fit your mix and enhance overall performance. The company’s culture will determine the boundaries that you allow your employees to operate within.

Consistency in a company culture is vital At Invincible Valves, we use our culture to always engage in a transparent fashion and allow a certain amount of freedom, which gives our employees the peace of mind that they are always trusted to do their best without having someone looking over their shoulder all the time. We play our cards openly from the very first meeting and we follow through right to the end. Consistency in a company culture is vital. This makes it easier for employees to make decisions; they know and understand the culture and can therefore make informed decisions based on past experience.

Our culture extends far beyond the employee’s job title.

It includes social responsibility, skills development and personal development. We never employ people just because they apply for the job; instead we look at the person and their scope for growth before making them an offer. If we can’t see the potential for further growth, then we are not going to make the offer. The reason for this is because we are committed to uplifting people in a safe and caring environment, which is within our business culture. It also means that our employees are open to training in multi-skilled disciplines because of our transparency and honesty from day one. They are also more committed to working as a team and assisting in other areas of the business when necessary.

COVER STORY INVINCIBLE VALVES

Social responsibility At Invincible Valves we offer many out-of-our scope opportunities to our employees, including personal health care, charitable events within our local community and much more. Twice a year we sponsor Tuberculosis x-rays free of charge for all our employees, along with an annual HIV/Aids screening, which is always followed up with a day of educational talks and demonstrations. We feel that it is our duty to provide these opportunities for the benefit of our employees and their loved ones. We also encourage our employees to share their newfound knowledge with others in their communities.

We partner with a number of organisations and get involved in uplifting schools in South Africa. Our employees are always ready to assist. Recently we had a team of 10 employees assist in painting a farm school, and working with several other companies we managed to complete the task in just a couple of hours, changing the learning experience for more than 1 000 students every day. We helped to create an environment that these children can be proud to call their school; where through donations, they now have access to more sporting equipment and educational material.

Knowledge and skills transfer Knowledge and skills transfer are of utmost importance at Invincible Valves and our company culture is evidence of this.

We created the Inval Training Centre for this reason; a space within our factory that is conducive to learning and sharing. The Inval Training Centre hosts several ongoing and adhoc education programmes throughout the year.

Shaping your culture is more than half done when you hire your team.” ~ Jessica Herrin, founder of Stella & Dot SA PROFILE

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COVER STORY INVINCIBLE VALVES The Centre houses our own library which promotes reading on every level. We offer a full learn-to-read programme and invite employees to take out books to read at home or during their lunch break. We also encourage our employees to learn to drive and offer textbooks for learners and drivers license tests. The library also offers current publications that promote industry awareness and insight into current affairs.

The adhoc external training programmes for our employees are run in groups of six. This means that if we only have two employees on the programme we then offer the same training to four community members, giving them an opportunity to brush up their skills or to learn a new skill. This this is just one of the ways we try to uplift and give back to our immediate community.

Another training opportunity at Invincible Valves includes our partnership with a local trade school and a technical high school. We make use of these facilities to train our employees, along with other unemployed candidates; we also source talent through these two institutions. This has proven to be beneficial in the past with qualified artisans as well as learnership candidates and have enhanced our manufacturing and reconditioning area of our company.

It gives us great joy to see our employees develop their skill set and grow as individuals. The moral of the story is that if your employees are happy and feel valued, respected and considered in all aspects of their work, you will see a whole new level of commitment and success.

We attribute our business success to the success of our employees; the fact that they consider our esteemed customers to be their own esteemed customers; the fact that they think before they act or react – and always in a positive manner.

Social responsibility values

The mining industry can be considered as one of the most competitive and hard-fought markets for suppliers of equipment and components. Achieving success in

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There’s no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.” ~ Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group this industry requires dedication and long-term, lasting relationships, which in many cases can run into decades of business partnerships.

Economic conditions play a role in the supply chain, and mine operators are hard pressed to maintain the balance between economies of scale and product quality.

One of the most important attributes for any company doing business with the mining industry, or any industry for that matter, is its ability to provide total solutions to suit their clients’ needs.

One such company is Invincible Valves, established 37 years ago and based on these sound principles.

Its successful track record throughout the industry has earned it an enviable reputation amongst its clients and stakeholders.

Invincible Valves is a respected distributor and the largest stockist in Africa of a comprehensive range of locally manufactured and imported valves and accessories for the mining, petro-chemical, power generation, water and sanitation and general industries. The company also offers full reconditioning facilities for valves, and a rubber lining division that meets the most stringent specifications for lining pipes, tanks, valves and any other specialised requirements.

‘We have built this company on old fashioned family values without losing sight of good corporate governance.

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COVER STORY INVINCIBLE VALVES

Our personnel are well trained and are put through regular programmes to enhance their business skills. Even the accounts personnel are given product training so that they can relate better to the products, the names of which they only see on paper,’ explains Pam du Plessis, Managing Director. ‘We also offer our staff empowerment opportunities by working in small teams with a team leader to co-ordinate daily activities. This business model gives us the opportunity to reward achievements within the company.’

Pam’s passion for people and education has prompted her to establish an education facility as a part of Invincible Valves’ social development programme. The Centre will be inaugurated by the Mayor of Ekurhuleni once completed.

‘Here, learners and staff members can be taught life skills as well as introduced to the world of business. We also have an intern programme that gives disadvantaged scholars an opportunity to gain hands-on experience within the company, at the same time earning a wage.

A number of technical schools and colleges have embraced this initiative and we have offered scholarships to both girls and boys, creating equal opportunities for both genders within our industry,’ she adds.

Accolades and awards

Pam du Plessis is regarded as somewhat of a human dynamo in this male-dominated industry and has achieved numerous accolades and awards as a businesswoman.

The innovative approach that she has developed as a business model for the company has proved to be the core value of her success.

Among her various awards, Pam travelled to Fort Lauderdale in the USA, to receive an award as part of the 2017 Enterprising Woman of The Year Awards ceremony, an annual tribute to the world’s top women entrepreneurs. The Enterprising Woman of the Year is

widely considered one of the most prestigious recognition programmes for women business owners. To win, nominees must demonstrate that they have fast-growth businesses, mentor or actively support other women and girls involved in entrepreneurship, and stand out as leaders in their communities. Many of the honourees also stand as leaders of key organisations that support the growth of women’s entrepreneurship.

Award winners are recognised in seven categories and recipients represent an amazing group of woman entrepreneurs from across Africa, the USA, Europe, UK and Canada.

In 2019, Pam was recognised and awarded as Africa’s Most Influential Businesswoman in the Engineering Sector.

With 76 finalists throughout Africa, this is no small feat!

It is also inspirational to know that there are many more successful women working in the sector across the African continent.

In November 2019, Pam was honoured with the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) award in New Delhi, India. This is yet another achievement proving that her love for the company, the brand and the culture is present in her everyday activities.

Mentoring young entrepreneurs, adding value to her local community and enhancing her employees’ lives is exceedingly high on her agenda. n

Invincible Valves W www.invalve.co.za

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EDITORIAL PROUDLY SA

Building the SA brand – investing in Proudly South African products People are often surprised that amongst our Proudly South African member companies, we count many multinationals whose ownership lies outside our own country. This does not mean we are not supporting our own. These companies represent massive investment and job creation in South Africa and many have become a part of the fabric of our society, and the communities in which they operate. These companies also contribute to the fiscus; they employ many people who pay income tax, they procure other products and services locally and so their brands become South African brands.

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EDITORIAL PROUDLY SA y choosing to buy locally manufactured, grown and produced products, especially those which bear the Proudly South African logo, we are supporting these local brands and in so doing, building the South African brand, here at home and in those export markets where these products can be found.

The Proudly SA logo (a tick in the colours of the SA flag) is seen increasingly on labels of products as diverse as designer outfits, off-the-peg clothing ranges, tools and hardware, cosmetics and beauty products, food and beverages, industrial components and machinery, vehicles, pharmaceuticals, toys and games, and now even on South Africa’s very first locally manufactured smart phones.

Diversity of member companies and products We count amongst our members, retail chains, airlines, manufacturers of white goods, brewers of beer, wine and carbonated drinks, centres of industrial excellence, designers and manufacturers of clothing, of detergents, and of personal hygiene products. We have many members who are entrepreneurs and SMMEs, producing hand crafted artisanal jewellery, bags, and leather goods and accessories. We have furniture manufacturers and designers, companies making paint, we have a company that represents the disabled community which seeks to meet their very specific needs, we have media houses, recyclers, re-purposers, engineering companies, printers, food processing plants, companies using our continent’s natural products (rooibos and Moringa) in many different applications, we have NPOs, mentorship and incubation centres, chemical companies, security firms, and even a food and music festival.

This range of companies by size and diversity of product is an indication that South Africa is rich in its offering of locally manufactured items. Collectively, these companies represent innovation, tradition, longevity, determination and many other characteristics that define

South Africa and South Africans.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel, lamented in his 2019/20 budget speech that South Africans do not produce what we consume and do not consume what we produce, but this list of members and their products shows that we do indeed produce much of what we consume. Whether we choose to purchase these items locally as opposed to imported versions, is up to us as proud South Africans.

Make local purchasing choices over imported goods Our work therefore, encompasses two functions - of increasing the number of Proudly SA brands and products on our shelves, in our stores and available in specific industries to companies operating within those sectors, and guiding consumers, whether public or private sector buyers, to identify those brands and to make local purchasing choices over imported goods.

To assist in matching supply and demand, we launched our online shopping and B2B platform www.rsamade. co.za, just over a year ago. Here, consumers can find exclusively Proudly SA member companies’ items to order and members can do business amongst themselves It is our job, then, as Proudly South African to ensure that we encourage government, business and consumers to buy local. At the same time, growing our membership base increases the visibility and ease of identity of locally manufactured goods and services and of the Proudly South African brand so that more people can invest and be invested in the growth of our economy. n

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EDITORIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Strengthen your presence as a female entrepreneur in SA Precilla Kalogeropoulos at Avon Justine

Statistics reveal that female entrepreneurship is lagging in South Africa, with women making up only 18.8% of small and medium enterprise (SME) owners in the country. Coupled with the latest unemployment data from Stats SA - which reveals that female unemployment continues to rise this data highlights the need and opportunity for women to pursue entrepreneurship as a career.

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EDITORIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP recilla Kalogeropoulos at Avon Justine - one of South Africa’s largest beauty brands and supporter of micro, beauty entrepreneurs – says that female entrepreneurs are a vast untapped source of innovation, job creation and economic growth in South Africa.

'By embracing entrepreneurship as a career choice, women have the opportunity to empower themselves financially as well as create employment opportunities for others.

'However, despite the opportunities, a number of challenges can hinder women from pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams, including a tough competitor market and attracting new customers,' she adds.

Precilla says one way female entrepreneurs can bolster their entrepreneurial presence and skills is by developing a strong personal brand.

'By building and growing a personal brand, especially as a woman in a “male-dominated” industry, you are affording yourself the opportunity to showcase not only your work but also your ethos to your audience.

'As a self-employed professional, a personal brand, along with your level of expertise within your given field, is what will set you apart from competitors. You need your unique brand to express and communicate your abilities to your customer base. And the truth is, it really isn’t that difficult, but it does require commitment,' she explains.

Precilla outlines a few key points for female entrepreneurs to use to flourish: 1. Define your target market and build your audience To do this, you need to foster relationships with both current and potential customers. Often, entrepreneurs use networking or community events to do this. As you build your network, you can attract more business while drumming up referral business through happy clients.

Although it’s important to note that face-to-face networking is very important, ensuring a digital footprint is just as necessary.

As a self-employed professional, a personal brand, along with your level of expertise within your given field, is what will set you apart from competitors.”

With a world full of competitors, we cannot wait for others to speak positively about us, we need to make the noise ourselves and be our own biggest fans.”

2. Build your social media presence With consumers increasingly turning to social media for product recommendations or reviews before making a purchase, an online presence is essential for anyone looking to sell a product or service. As an entrepreneur, you have the opportunity to use social media to position yourself, your brand, and your expertise as a leader in your particular field.

Boost your social media presence by ensuring your content is eye-catching and that it resonates with your audience. Through this, you’re able to connect with your audience, prove your field of knowledge, all while gaining exposure from doing so.

It’s not always easy to build up multiple platforms, which is why we advise picking one platform as your focus to begin with, and building it up slowly to ensure its success.

Can’t decide which one to focus on? Pick the platform that plays to your strengths as well as that of your product or service. For example, if you sell beauty products, ensure that your platform allows you to best demonstrate the visual appeal of your products, whether it be via video or static imagery.

3. Highlight your successes Lastly, do not shy away from singing your own praises. If you believe your products are of high-quality, then tell your audience so. You need to promote your skills, abilities and products. Women, especially in the entrepreneurial sector, tend to struggle or feel uncomfortable with high levels of self-promotion, but in this day and age, there’s no time to be coy. With a world full of competitors, we cannot wait for others to speak positively about us, we need to make the noise ourselves and be our own biggest fans.

Precilla warns to be aware of the risks that come with having a strong personal brand and public platform.

'While it can take years to build up a strong personal brand, all your hard work can be ruined in an instance of poor judgment. Therefore, it is critical to always be aware of the messaging that you are putting out and how it can be interpreted,' she concludes. n

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PROFILE PEARSON SOUTH AFRICA

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PROFILE PEARSON SOUTH AFRICA

Progress in life through learning

By Reggie Mokotsi, Head of Learning Services at Pearson SA Learning is a never-ending road of discovery, challenge, inspiration and wonder. For many people, learning is the route to a job to support their family, or the skills to help them progress in their career. For others, it’s simply a passion for discovery.

Whether it’s in the classroom, at home, or in the workplace, learning is the key to improving our life chances. That’s why Pearson is focussed on helping learners at every stage of the journey discover a love of learning that helps provide opportunities throughout their lives.

W

e are the world’s learning company with more than 24 000 employees in nearly 70 countries, and we are on a mission to help people make progress in their lives through learning.

We combine world-class educational content and assessment, powered by services and technology, to enable more effective teaching and personalised learning at scale.

We serve learners, teachers and employers worldwide; we work at every point of the learning journey, from preschool to the workplace. And because we know that for most of our learners, education and training are a means to an end – a job that supports them and their family – employability is the ultimate purpose of what we do.

We work with educators and learners to continually improve our products and services, ensuring they have the most positive impact on learning.”

Our dedication to creating positive social impact shapes everything we do, from our products and strategies to the way we engage with our millions of learners, partners and communities around the world.

B-BBEE partners share our passion and commitment to education We are fortunate to have found B-BBEE partners who share our passion and commitment to education and will enable us to continue to positively impact many thousands of learners across South Africa. Sphere Holdings is excited to be part of an enterprise whose key focus is on improving knowledge and education in South Africa.

The relationship with Pearson South Africa aligns this imperative with their passion for delivering meaningful interventions for change.

For Pearson, providing great products and services is just the beginning. It’s important for us to know that they are working. Everything we do is driven by its measurable impact on learning outcomes. We call this efficacy.

In 2013, we announced our commitment to report publicly on our progress and make the results transparent.

We were the first education company to make this commitment.

By focusing on the efficacy of our products and services, we can see exactly how effective they are at producing successful outcomes for learners. This involves continually measuring, assessing and improving everything we do and putting the learner at the heart of our learning solutions.

We work with educators and learners to continually improve our products and services, ensuring they have the most positive impact on learning. In this way, we’re able to deliver better education to more people – whatever, whenever, wherever and however they choose.

Every day all over South Africa, our products and services help learning flourish. Because wherever learning flourishes, so do people. n

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ADVERTORIAL PEARSON SOUTH AFRICA

Empowering human progress Pearson is the world’s learning company with 24 000 employees across 70 countries, drawing on a rich heritage of publishing and educational companies with which it has merged since 1844. Since then, Pearson and its imprints have remained at the forefront of educational publishing. Today, in addition to print books, Pearson provides digital learning content and services, assessment, as well as professional programmes and qualifications. Pearson owns Pearson Institute of Higher Education, which has 12 campuses across the country.

Diversity and inclusivity Pearson South Africa is one of the few publishers in South Africa publishing in all 11 official languages.

‘When it comes to readers in particular, we do not create materials in English then translate them into local languages; we generate the stories originally in those languages,’ says Reggie Mokotsi, Head of Learning Services at Pearson South Africa. ‘Our reading instruction programme called Vuma, reflects the richness of our country, with a focus on improving reading, comprehension and understanding in mother tongue.’

Technology empowered learning ‘We look forward to leading the fourth industrial revolution in education by providing learners and teachers with cutting edge content to enhance future skills,’ says Mokotsi.

Several new projects are beginning to shift the direction of the Pearson Group, driving it towards a digital future.

Some of these projects include MyPedia, a blended front-of-classroom teaching solution, underpinned by assessment for learning that brings digital learning into the classroom, without connectivity.

Pearson South Africa has taken its knowledge about how people learn and applied that to the business world to create bespoke career-enhancing training, offering globally recognised short online learning courses.

Dedicated to education in South Africa South Africa’s education landscape is haunted by challenges around access and affordability. These are aggravated by social issues like poverty and linguistic

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barriers. For Nhlanhla Thwala, academic director at Pearson Institute of Higher Education (PIHE), an even bigger problem is that education is divorced from these issues.

At PIHE, various programmes prepare students for success at a tertiary level and beyond. PIHE offers foundational programmes and the Pearson Graduate Development Programme involves taking high-achieving graduates and giving them the opportunity to be immersed in businesses through internships.

The Pearson Marang Education Trust (PMET) has focused on best practice as an approach to improving the quality of teaching, learning and school management in South Africa, through research, engagement and development at the coalface of education. Through appropriate interventions, PMET has helped rebuild schools and communities.

‘Today they are in seven provinces, effectively reaching 120 000 learners,’ explains Mokotsi.

Pearson’s global CEO, John Fallon states: ‘Our purpose is to empower human progress through learning. It’s more than just words to us. It is our responsibility as a learning company.’ n

Pearson South Africa T +27 (0)21 532 6008 E pearsonza.enquiries@pearson.com W za.pearson.com

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Pearson A

Let us take you on a journey through learning At Pearson, it’s our privilege to help you explore your personal journey of discovery and develop a love of learning that enriches every stage of your life.

How we learn is as important as what we learn

We’re here to help people make progress through learning

We believe that harnessing technology to power teaching represents an opportunity to give today’s learners the ability to gain the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in the 21st century. These new opportunities present new challenges, and at Pearson, we’re committed to answering them. From MyPedia, a blended classroom solution to HoloLens, using augmented reality to teach concepts, Pearson contributes towards effective technology-enabled learning at schools and institutions in South Africa.

At Pearson, we are dedicated to improving lifelong employability for everyone. We aim to help people everywhere gain access to the learning they need, and embrace their passion and ambition for learning new skills. Students at Pearson Institute of Higher Education benefit from a wide range of accredited Higher Education degrees and certificates, which can be completed either full-time or part-time online. Our Pearson Professional Programmes provide globally recognised, industry relevant online short courses.

Every day all over South Africa, our educational products and services help learning flourish.

Contact us Tel: 021 532 6008 Email: pearsonza.enquiries@pearson.com

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Learn more at za.pearson.com

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EDITORIAL SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Adopting a millennial mindset – how to run a socially conscious business

With purpose-driven millennials and Generation Z making up an increasingly large portion of consumers, there is a global trend towards “belief-driven buying”, whereby consumer behaviour is influenced by a brands’ standing on societal issues. To remain relevant in this new era of conscious consumerism, South African businesses should consider taking a more socially conscious stance.

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David Morobe, Executive General Manager: Impact Investment at Business Partners Limited (BUSINESS/PARTNERS)

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EDITORIAL SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

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his is according to David Morobe, Executive General Manager: Impact Investment at Business Partners Limited (BUSINESS/ PARTNERS), one of Africa’s leading business risk financiers, who refers to the findings of the 2018 Edelman Earned Brand study.

'The study reveals that 64% of consumers across the world now buy on belief, a trend that is being led by millennials, of which 81% expect businesses to make public declarations of social good,' he says.

Morobe offers the following insights into how business can align their businesses with this trend:

1. Build social awareness into the foundation of the business Simply having social responsibility initiatives that are separate from your main business is no longer sufficient.

Social responsibility should be built into the DNA of the business, shaping values and everyday decisions. An effective social awareness model should run through the business like a golden thread and should be built around authenticity, thinking local, promoting employee wellness and being transparent about setbacks the business has faced.

2. Offer socially conscious products and services This means business owners need to be conscious of where products are sourced, as well as what the production process entails. It is better to source from reputable wholesalers who have been verified as having good environmental and employment standards. Once you have ensured that you can offer socially conscious products and services, share this information with consumers. A restaurant, for example, can include a map of where they source ingredients from on their menu.

Today’s consumers love knowing where their chosen products and services come from.

brings good to people, particularly those who are most in need. Choose a cause, whether it is contributing to environmental sustainability or better quality of life for unskilled workers, and commit to making a measurable impact in that area.

4. Hire employees who are looking for more than a pay check Millennials have not only redefined consumer habits, they have also redefined what a job should be. They are not merely looking for a transactional trade; but rather to work for businesses with which they can really connect. Get clear on your business values and hire employees who share those values and who will be committed to helping you achieve your socially conscious business vision.

5. Partner with other likeminded businesses and organisations By collaborating with other businesses, you can boost your consciousness influence. There is also the option to work with charitable organisations whose cause your business relates to. By teaming up with other businesses and charities, you can improve the economy and give back to the community your business operates in.

Most importantly, Morobe says that running a socially responsible business needs to be about wanting to be the change.

'This requires a heightened sense of awareness, and unfortunately not all businesses have this. Every aspect of your business must be aligned to the cause, starting from leadership and running throughout your team down to the products and services you offer. As a business owner, this means wanting your business to bring about positive change to every one of your employees and to society as a whole,' he concludes. n

3. Contribute to your community or to society A socially conscious company’s ultimate test is how much it contributes to society. It must provide value that

About Business Partners Limited

Business Partners Limited is a specialist risk finance company for formal small and medium owner-managed businesses in South Africa, and selected African countries. The company actively supports entrepreneurial growth by providing financing from R500 000 to R50 million, specialist sectoral knowledge, business premises and added-value services for viable small and medium businesses. Since establishment in 1981, the company has provided business finance worth over R19.5 billion in over 71 600 transactions facilitating over 648 200 jobs.

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PROFILE MITEK INDUSTRIES

Leading the world of roof truss technology

By Hennie Viljoen MiTek is a diversified global supplier of builder products, collaborative software, engineering services and manufacturing equipment to the residential, commercial and industrial construction sectors to empower breakthroughs in building.

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he company has a 54-year history in South Africa, founded as Automated Building Components ABC (Pty) Ltd in 1965, with 11 employees. We now have a staff complement of 141 nationally, with regional offices in Gauteng, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, a manufacturing facility in Gauteng, and agents and manufacturing outlets in East London, George, Harare, Nairobi, Ghana and Kenya.

MiTek is best placed to supply the building industry with the widest range of timber connectors and light gauge steel products for the roof truss manufacturer and hardware stores.

Servicing more than 140 roof truss manufacturers countrywide, and over 800 hardware and DIY stores

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which are supplied with all eCo builder’s products. Our eCo Fasteners builder’s hardware products, such as truss hangers, timber connector plates and hurricane clips, are well known throughout the industry for their unmatched quality and structural integrity.

Operations in more than 40 countries MiTek Industries’ passion for its associates’ well-being, and its customers’ success, is the company’s hallmark. Founded in 1955 and a Berkshire Hathaway company since 2001, MiTek has operations in more than 40 countries on six continents.

MiTek Industries worldwide is governed by an incredible set of ethics and principles, as prescribed by Mr Buffet himself. The entire MiTek management team are compelled to sign a corporate governance compliance acknowledgement and FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practises Act) annually, assuring our shareholders, our employees, our customers, our suppliers, and all our work associates, of our total commitment to all the values of good business, primarily integrity, and passion.

Our team of 14 professional engineers and technicians are backed by Professional Indemnity insurance (PI) and a guarantee of continuity. Our in-house manufactured products are backed with full Product Liability insurance.

World-leading software Our world-leading software, for designs in both light gauge steel and timber, are developed and improved by our collection of over 230 in-house software developers internationally.

Our software includes a suite of management, quoting and manufacturing offerings that ensures you can create your own advantage. Our equipment department offers the best choice of equipment alternatives, from laser jigging, to optimised linear cutting and automatic pressing ensuring the ultimate in manufactured quality MiTek leads the building component manufacturing industry with innovative products and services that improve efficiency and productivity. With MiTek, you are buying more than just a piece of equipment. You are getting a team of design/build experts that focuses on delivering the perfect customer experience and highperformance for your plant.

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PROFILE MITEK INDUSTRIES

Ultra-Span light gauge steel roofing solution Is your roof too large to be built in pre-fabricated timber, or are you shipping roofs into Africa and paying dearly for transport? Maybe you want to supply low-cost roofs or simply prefer non-combustible roof structures? Whatever your need – Ultra-Span® offers the solution!

Ultra-Span® is a pre-fabricated light gauge steel roof truss system that is both lightweight and compact for economical transportation costs. Assembly of trusses can be completed with only an electric screwdriver. UltraSpan® is backed by a professional engineering and estimating department. Engineered designs are calculated using state-of-the art in-house developed software and provide economical roofing solutions.

The low mass per square metre (between 2-10kg) of this roofing system ensures both savings on the supporting structure as well as on transportation and erection costs, whilst also being vermin proof and non-combustible. Large sections of the roof can simply be pre-assembled on the ground and hoisted into position on the walls – making this one of the most viable systems with a large range of applications up to a clear span of 40m.

Award-winning projects MiTek was the SAISC Steel Awards 2019 Light Steel Frame Building Category sponsor with three projects from fabricators in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban entered into the annual SAISC Steel Awards during October 2019. These entries are in contention for the highly coveted Light Steel Frame Building category, which MiTek licensed fabricators won with Ultra-Span projects in 2010, 2015 and 2017.

PAMIR roof design software The roof truss manufacturing industry demands results faster, cheaper and of higher quality. That’s why we never stop developing and improving our software to grow your business success. Fully compliant with the relevant SANS codes, our software is the industry leader.

MiTek PAMIR combines roof layout, truss engineering, high quality CAD output features and detailed reporting all in one integrated software platform.

With PAMIR you can quickly edit the building dimensions and watch the roof dynamically re-frame.

Whether you are moving walls, adding an attic room or changing the roof pitch, PAMIR’s powerful dynamic framing allows you to make the change in seconds.

With PAMIR’s powerful CAD functions, users are able to produce high quality output including building elevations, live cross sections, zoomed-in 3D details and truss profiles, quickly and easily.

PAMIR is the next generation of prefabrication software.

More dynamic, more powerful and more versatile than any other software package available.

MiTek has a track record of breakthroughs, including the development and commercialisation of technologies that drive the global componentised roof truss industry:

• By helping customers implement high-performance processes and technologies that streamline workflows and automate collaboration throughout the building supply chain.

• By engineering innovative, holistic solutions that integrate software, engineered products, componentization and off-site fabrication to achieve greater quality, productivity and profitability.

What sets us apart?

Relationships. We live out a genuine, core passion for serving our customers and we build trust as a partner on your journey, through our uncompromising commitment to helping our customer succeed – immediately, and in the long run.

MiTek aims to transform the building industry with holistic, sustainable and collaborative solutions that enable all partners to work better together to address global demand for smarter and more affordable housing and workspaces. n

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EDITORIAL SOCIAL MEDIA

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EDITORIAL SOCIAL MEDIA

Builds credibility

How does social media support sales?

Social media is not a fad but an integral part of our modern-day communication system. Many businesses can give testimony to the fact that social media has been a vital tool to grow their business and promote sales. The question is; are you mining this resource to ultimately boost sales?

In the past, we did business with people we knew and trusted. However, nowadays we do business the ecommerce way. For this to be successful, credibility is paramount.

It takes time to build credibility and social media is exactly the right channel to support this most important aspect of your business. It is the place where people can get to know you and your brand through the content you post and the way you engage with your audience. If this is done well and consistently, you will find your sales increasing.

Increases traffic to your website By building up a following on social media, you are also providing people with the opportunity to click through to your website. This is where the sales take place, but the foundation has been laid in building relationship and trust on social media.

Facebook retargeting ads Only a small percentage of people will purchase during their first visit to your website. So, how do you reach these non-purchasers? Enter retargeting ads. Through Facebook pixels, we are now able to effectively measure our advertising efforts by recording and understanding actions visitors take on our websites.

When a person visits your site via Facebook and takes an action, the Facebook pixel triggers and the action is recorded. This information can later be used to create custom audiences on Facebook to deliver retargeting ads to those site visitors that didn’t convert during their first visit to your website. As people are more likely to interact with something familiar than something completely new, this brings a definite boost in conversions and sales.

The flow looks like this: Your website Retargeting ad Social media

ocial media is great to increase brand awareness and connect with your audience.

It’s not called social media for nothing! If you are still in two minds about whether all this fuss about social media is relevant or just annoying, look at these ways in which social media does in fact support sales.

Creates brand recognition I mean, how can anyone want to buy your products or use your services when they don’t even know you exist? This surely is one of the most important goals for any business. Your presence on social media will create engagement and conversation. Knowledge of your brand will spread very quickly.

Your website

Returning customer

Retargeting ad

Sale

Returning customer

Sale

Promote your products and services Social media is the best and easiest place to promote your products or services and to keep your audience up to date with new introductions. They want to hear from you and your loyal customers are ready to buy. Don’t disappoint and share what you have to offer and direct them to your website.

Social media has many opportunities to support the sales process. Sales are the goal and the vehicle is social media. It’s where you should be building credibility and conversation about your brand. Be patient and you will see this effort translate into loyal customers and increased sales. Happy posting! n

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PROFILE RHODES UNIVERSITY

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PROFILE RHODES UNIVERSITY

Rhodes University – where leaders learn

By Dr Sizwe Mabizela, Vice-Chancellor, Rhodes University

Founded in 1904, Rhodes University has a well-established reputation for academic excellence. With just over 8 200 students, Rhodes University enjoys the distinction of having among the best undergraduate pass and graduation rates in South Africa, outstanding postgraduate success rates, and the best research output per academic staff member.

This is a testimony to the quality of students that the university attracts and of academic provision, and to the commitment of staff to student development and success.

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t Rhodes University, students are able to undertake an extensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the faculties of Humanities, Science, Commerce, Pharmacy, Law and Education. With the most favourable academic staff to student ratio among South African universities, students are guaranteed easy access to academics and close supervision.

The university takes pride in its motto, ‘Where Leaders Learn’, and producing graduates who are knowledgeable intellectuals, skilled professionals and critical, caring and compassionate citizens who can contribute to economic and social development, and an equitable, just and democratic society.

Many of the goals of our recently completed Institutional

Development Plan (IDP) have to do with retaining and improving our research and scholarly contribution as a university, and ensuring that we not only generate dependable knowledge, but that the knowledge that we create has a positive impact on the social and natural world around us.

Our goals are to: • Maintain and strengthen our general formative degree offering and the research, teaching, and community engagement nexus which enables our students to access powerful knowledge • Enable access to all academically-qualifying students and provide them with conditions which allow them to flourish as critical and engaged citizens • Maintain and strengthen our unique institutional niche as a research-intensive university outside a major urban area • Ensure financial and environmental sustainability practices through good governance, leadership and management • Attract, nurture and retain staff of high-calibre and maintain an inclusive, welcoming, affirming and positive intellectual environment • Provide relevant and appropriate academic infrastructure, equipment and facilities to support our academic project, and • Promote Rhodes University as an institution for the public good in local, provincial, national and international contexts.

The IDP calls upon all of us to re-imagine our university as one in which sustainability permeates every aspect of our academic endeavour, including an elevated sense of awareness and responsibility of our graduates for building sustainable communities. It calls upon us to ensure that we are simultaneously locally responsive and globally engaged. It calls upon us to work towards advancing social justice and do all that we can to restore the dignity and humanity of those who were treated as lesser beings by the previous dispensation. And it calls upon us to remind ourselves that our university does not exist in a vacuum. It exists within a social, cultural and economic milieu, and has an important role to play in lifting the standard of living of our local community.

Rhodes University is very fortunate to have outstanding, dedicated and committed academic and support staff who take a deep and keen interest in the growth, development and academic success of each and every one of our students. n

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ADVERTORIAL RHODES UNIVERSITY

Choose Rhodes University’s formative degree for flexibility and success The years young people spend in higher education are the most formative. Students mature as they prepare for their futures. A wise choice for a degree programme is a great start – but not all universities structure their degree programmes in the same way.

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ome young people know their choice of a degree and possibly even have a preferred university. They have an idea of a career path, be it journalism or law, only to find out once they are enrolled, that studying for a particular profession is not quite what they want.

Rhodes University offers a general formative degree, which frees you from vocational lock-in and offers you a wider choice.

When other universities reconfigured their curricula in the early 2000’s, to focus on qualifications that prepared students for particular jobs, Rhodes University chose not to, explains Professor Chrissie Boughey of the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning.

‘Our formative degree requires students to engage with a range of subjects at first-year level and offers specialisation as students move up the academic ladder.

The flexibility we offer is a great strength.’

In her 2018 paper “Using the curriculum to enhance teaching and learning”, Boughey draws on a wealth of research to challenge the thinking that has influenced curriculum reform in South Africa over the past 20 years.

‘Arguably, many of the jobs for which students have been trained in narrow vocational programmes will cease to exist before the end of their working lives,’ she says. ‘With a formative degree, students will have the knowledge to imagine worlds that do not yet exist.’

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The focus of a formative degree is to equip students to use theory to “see the world differently” and develop their ability to make evidence-based arguments. That is the Rhodes University graduates’ trait.

A recent study entitled “Going to University: The influence of higher education on the lives of young South Africans”, that examined students’ experiences in BA and BSc degree programmes, shows that flexibility in the curriculum structure plays a crucial role in students’ progression and success. The study tracked the lives of young people as they made their way through the university and out into the world of work.

‘A curriculum needs to make some trial and error possible. Professional degrees such as medicine or engineering may need a more specified curriculum, but the relative flexibility in the formative BA and BSc degrees is important. This allows students to try out different disciplines and find their passions,’ explains Professor Sioux Mckenna, a co-author of the study.

Affirmed, once more, by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) as the best research institution per capita in South Africa, and with among the best throughput rates in the country, Rhodes University looks to the future with confidence. Walk with us, where leaders learn. n

Rhodes University T +27 (0)46 603 8276 E registrar@ru.ac.za W www.ru.ac.za

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brighten YOUR

with a

POSTGRAD DEGREE

Globally respected for research, acclaimed for academic excellence in smaller classes, guiding you to real success.

Apply to Rhodes University, visit www.ru.ac.za for more information.

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EDITORIAL CORPORATE FRAUD

Better networking can limit fraud losses Christo Snyman, National Director of Forensic Services at Mazars and Vice President of the International Association of Financial Crime Investigators (IAFCI) Western Cape Chapter

Skills transfer and greater interaction between the private sector, authorities and skilled fraud investigators will become increasingly crucial to combating corporate fraud.

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EDITORIAL CORPORATE FRAUD his is according to Christo Snyman, National Director of Forensic Services at Mazars and Vice President of the International Association of Financial Crime Investigators (IAFCI) Western Cape Chapter, following the completion of a series of seminars hosted by the IAFCI in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

‘We were fortunate enough to have Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, National Head of the Hawks, among the speakers at these seminars. He rightly pointed to the fact that there is a dire need for more seminars and fraud conferences in South Africa. We also agree with him when he says that it is necessary to transfer knowledge, and enable the appointment of many more skilled fraud investigators in South Africa,’ he commented.

In addition to this, Snyman says that seminars such as the ones hosted annually by IAFCI, are also crucial in building close relationships between private sector companies and other key role players.

‘From the cases that Mazars has come across over the years, we have seen that the companies that have suffered the highest fraud losses are those who do not have close relationships with fraud investigators and government entities. Not only is this where one gets support from when fraud has been detected within a company, but the information and skills that one can gain with the support of such a network can help a company to implement much more robust anti-fraud measures,’ he adds.

Snyman is also able to demonstrate the value of close collaboration between stakeholders with one very recent criminal prosecution.

‘Mazars supplied evidence in an especially complicated corporate fraud case that actually wrapped up in the commercial court recently. One of our clients was defrauded of around R4.6 million by an employee who had falsified invoices and diverted payments into her own accounts. Ultimately, the perpetrator received a 12-year prison sentence, suspended for five years and three years correctional supervision. However, the

Better networking between companies and other stakeholders connected to fraud investigation, can ensure that more fraud cases are resolved.”

We have seen that the companies that have suffered the highest fraud losses are those who do not have close relationships with fraud investigators and government entities.” real reason why we are particularly pleased with the outcome of this case was the fact that the client was able to recover all of the missing funds owed to them,’ he explains.

Acting on the advice of Mazars’ investigators, and with the assistance of authorities, the client was able to have the employee’s assets frozen almost immediately.

‘The quick action on the part of the client ensured that the fraudster was unable to liquidate any assets, and immediately ensured that the client could effectively reclaim at least half of the funds that were stolen. The employee, as part of a plea deal, repaid the other half of the client’s money. In this instance, the client was able to effectively rely, not only on the advice of the investigator, but also on the close relationships that Mazars had fostered with law enforcement over the years.’

Snyman adds that better networking between companies and other stakeholders connected to fraud investigation, can ensure that more fraud cases are resolved in this manner.

‘IAFCI hosts fraud information seminars annually, and the networking opportunities at these events have already benefited many businesses. We believe that all South African businesses should begin to make it one of their priorities to use opportunities such as these to build relationships and get support when they need it most.’ n

About Mazars Mazars is an internationally integrated partnership, specialising in audit, accounting, tax and advisory services. Operating in 89 countries and territories around the world, we draw on the expertise of 40 000 professionals; 24 000 in the Mazars integrated partnership and 16 000 via the Mazars North America Alliance – to assist clients at every stage in their development.

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ADVERTORIAL ROOIBOS LTD

Rooibos Limited, heart of the Rooibos industry

The Rooibos plant Rooibos is produced from the plant Aspalathus linearis, a leguminous shrub unique to the Cederberg Mountains around the town of Clanwilliam, and indigenous to the Western Cape of South Africa. It forms part of the Cape Floral Kingdom, commonly known as fynbos, and grows nowhere else in the world.

Rooibos – the healthy choice Unlike many teas, Rooibos is naturally caffeine-free and low in harmful tannins. It contains no additives, preservatives, colourants or oxalic acid.

Endless versatility As a drink, Rooibos is extremely versatile; it can be enjoyed as a hot drink or as an iced beverage. It can be mixed with fruit juice or cordials and one can even add champagne or red wine to Rooibos to create a unique cocktail. As a caffeine-free alternative, Rooibos espressos and lattes are a great hit. Many top South African chefs have embraced Rooibos as part of their signature recipes.

Due to the beneficial dermatological effects of Rooibos, it is being used in an ever increasing number of skincare products, cosmetics and toiletries.

The health benefits of Rooibos have also been recognised by the food industry, and it is now being used in a wide variety of foodstuffs, including spreads, yoghurt, syrup, bread, nougat and health bars.

The future of Rooibos With the development of Rooibos extracts, the opportunities for creating new products in the food, beverage and cosmetic industries are endless. Major international brands are developing and launching a number of Rooibos-based ready-to-drink beverages, and capsules for espresso machines. Rooibos is also used in a variety of health-food supplements by a number of leading manufacturers.

Celebrating 65 years

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RB19.29 SA Profile

Since its humble beginnings 65 years ago, Rooibos Ltd has become the single largest producer and distributor of Rooibos to the local and international markets, supplying over 50 countries around the world, with no less than six billion cups of this extraordinary beverage being drunk every year.

Established in 1954, Rooibos Limited is proud to be the first company to introduce this remarkable product to the world and to be acknowledged as the preferred supplier of Rooibos worldwide, supplying some 80% of the domestic market and 60% of the international market, making it the undeniable “Heart of the Rooibos Industry”. n

Roo wor bag

Rooibos Limited www.rooibosltd.co.za

For

ww

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Celebrating 65 years

RB19.29 SA Profile

PREFERRED SUPPLIER SINCE 1954

Rooibos Limited is the single largest producer and distributor of Rooibos to over fifty countries around the world. Supplying an extensive range of bulk and packaged products, including string and tag, pillow bags and Nespresso compatible capsules.

For more information regarding the company, product range and various certifications visit

www.rooibosltd.co.za

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PERSONAL PROFILE SIBUSISO (BUSI) RAPHEKWANE

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I love sharing my knowledge and helping people realise that they can build sustainable businesses that can leave a legacy that makes them proud. I am passionate about transforming lives and seeing entrepreneurs use their strengths and skills to achieve their dreams.� ~ Busi Raphekwane 38

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PERSONAL PROFILE SIBUSISO (BUSI) RAPHEKWANE

Developing entrepreneurs, changing nations, building legacies Sibusiso (Busi) Raphekwane is a passionate entrepreneurship advocate and development enthusiast at heart - she talks and walks enterprise development. She’s driven by her vision to transform small businesses into sustainable enterprises that can transcend from generation to generation, leaving a lasting positive impact on the economy of our nation and continent at large.

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er passion was ignited by the frustration and the heartbreak she experienced when she witnessed the majority of the small businesses that she grew up admiring in her hometown, Hammanskraal, either struggling to survive or completely closing down; leaving the business owner and the families in a challenging financial position.

It was this experience that led her to question the status quo of small businesses, particularly black-owned small businesses and the high failure rate that had almost become the norm. As an entrepreneur, she herself experienced the disappointment of having to close down her business that she had dedicated so much of her time and resources to.

This resulted in her establishing a daily mission to transform the nation by developing sustainable Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) that

can contribute meaningfully to the economy. While entrepreneurship and socio-economic transformation have always been an interest and a passion for her, it was only after her experience of running her own business, that she started channelling this passion towards the sustainable development of SMMEs. She saw that there was a great need to empower SMMEs and to give them a fighting chance to thrive by equipping them with the relevant skills and knowledge to start and operate successful businesses. In South Africa, a country riddled with high unemployment and poverty levels, the support of vibrant self-generating and self-reliant enterprises cannot be ignored.

This was the driving force behind her establishing The Transformation Legacy, an enterprise development company providing impact-driven enterprise and supplier development programmes that are geared towards empowering SMMEs to significantly grow their concerns. The organisation aims to transform the SMME landscape by creating a new narrative of successful, thriving, knowledgeable and well-equipped entrepreneurs. The company also aims to improve the sustainability of corporate companies by improving their B-BBEE scorecard, through the effective implementation of enterprise and supplier development programmes, which lead to the successful integration of black-owned SMMEs into corporate companies’ supply chains.

Busi’s passion and vast wealth of experience is anchored by a B.Com Degree in Accounting Sciences and a Master’s degree in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development from the University of Pretoria.

With 13 years corporate experience and 9 years in the enterprise development sphere as a business mentor and enterprise development consultant, it is no surprise that she is leading an organisation that has achieved so much impact in the sustainable growth of small businesses.

She has been awarded numerous awards, including the Best Performer in the area of Business Mentorship. She is a Certified Business Advisor, qualified Life and Business Coach, and a member of the Institute of Directors and Business Women Association.

Busi says that some of the highlights of running The Transformation Legacy include the feedback received from the entrepreneurs that take part in the training and mentorship programmes. One of the recent comments from one such entrepreneur was: ‘Keep up the good work. Really inspiring. The passion was unbelievable.

You guys have made South Africa a better place. You guys have propelled and stamped change in our nation.

Exponential value added to both me and my business’.

For Busi, hearing this is what makes it all worthwhile. n

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ADVERTORIAL THE TRANSFORMATION LEGACY

Why should Enterprise Development matter

O

ur organisation exists to create a new narrative of thriving SMME’s that remain sustainable, are able to create jobs and thus lead to a positive contribution to the economy. To ensure that we achieve this, we implement enterprise and supplier development programmes that are holistic in their approach. They not only impart critical business and entrepreneurial skills, but also focus on ensuring that business owners reach a certain level of personal mastery which would allow them to have the right mind-set to thrive as entrepreneurs.

The Transformation Legacy is an Enterprise Development company providing impact-driven Enterprise & Supplier development (ESD) programmes and projects that are geared towards empowering small businesses to significantly grow their enterprises whilst improving corporate companies’ BEE compliance. We do this through business mentorship and practical training programmes that are aimed at providing entrepreneurs with the necessary skills and support to build their businesses.

For corporate companies; the contribution made towards the development and implementation of effective enterprise and supplier development programmes can lead to more sustainable SMME’s, securing excellent black-owned suppliers, maximizing of company BEE compliance and thus improving the corporate company’s competitiveness in the market.

Our offering to corporates includes: • Development and implementation of Enterprise and Supplier Development projects • The Transitioning Entrepreneur programme/s: reskilling of retrenched individuals aspiring to start their own businesses • Skills Development programme/s: SETA-accredited NQF level 4 business skills training to train and upskill individuals • Socio-economic development programme/s: training and mentorship of unemployed youth in township and rural regions

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According to the Small Business Institute (2018), 7 out of 10 small businesses fail within the first five years of operation. This means that the majority of entrepreneurs that start businesses will lose their income and the capital investment in their respective businesses and ultimately close down their operations. This alarming reality has unfortunately become part of the narrative for far too long in our country. The impact of this statistic is not only felt in the small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) landscape; it is a reality that affects the whole economy.

In-house TTL Enterprise Development Programmes The Transformation Legacy team rollout a number of successful ESD programmes throughout the year. Any of the following programmes can contribute to your Enterprise and Supplier Development spend.

• Township Youth Entrepreneur Development Programme Business mentorship and training programme specifically targeting unemployed youth residing in the township and rural areas • The Transitioning Entrepreneur Programme Business mentorship and training programme specifically targeting retrenched individuals, to ensure they are reskilled and have the knowledge and tools they require to start their own businesses.

• Infinite Wisdom Facilitation This is a personal development programme that awakens self-awareness and deeper understanding of oneself – resulting in maximising one’s potential and achieving higher levels of self-mastery.

• Transformation Fridays Business skills training sessions taking place on Friday’s covering a variety of management challenges facing small business owners.

We believe that through our programmes, we can significantly improve the competitiveness and sustainability of corporate companies by building SMME’s that can grow to becoming sustainable enterprises that can thrive five years in and beyond. n

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EDITORIAL ECONOMICS

Economic slowdown is #1 risk facing organisations

By Tony Webster, Business Unit Head, Corporate Division at AON South Africa

Aon’s 2019 Global Risk Management survey identified economic slowdown as the number one risk facing organisations today – it’s also an entirely uninsurable risk.

Economic slowdown was first ranked as number one at the height of the financial crisis 10 years ago and has once again grabbed the top spot.

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EDITORIAL ECONOMICS he bleak economic outlook is mirrored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that has cut its estimates for global economic growth to 3.5% for 2019 with a similar sentiment from The World Bank at a mere 2.9%. Closer to home, the IMF has set South Africa’s projected GDP growth rate for 2019 at only 1.2%.

The average reported loss of income because of the top 10 risks faced by businesses, according to Aon, is pegged at a staggering 30% for the Middle East and Africa. Respondents in the construction, rubber, plastics, stone and cement, machinery and equipment manufacturing, and printing and publishing sectors are normally most affected by businesses reducing or holding back on capital spending during an economic slowdown.

Formulating an evolving risk management solution The frequency and level of risks associated with economic slowdown are evolving and escalating so fast that risk management solutions have not yet responded rapidly enough to prevent or mitigate losses. A concerning trend identified in Aon’s 2019 survey is the lack of risk identification and an overall drop in reported readiness for this risk from 30% to 26%.

About 10% of surveyed organisations declared, they have no formalised process in place to identify and or quantify risks to their business, says Tony Webster from Aon’s Commercial Risk Solutions Division. Considering that more of the top risks in this year’s survey are “technically” uninsurable than ever before, companies without a formal risk management process set a dangerous precedent.

While we are beginning to see the start of a much more significant slowdown in 2020, it would be prudent for companies to start preparing now. Completing rigorous stress testing and coming up with adverse hypothetical scenarios forms the basis to gauge an organisation’s preparedness for an economic downturn.

Ways to improve efficiencies and productivity forms the basis of a well-prepared plan to put in motion to help mitigate the risks. Agility to respond is the key to the mitigation of exposures.

Methods of identifying an economic slowdown and its impact on business Aon takes a closer look at common tools and sources

The average reported loss of income because of the top 10 risks faced by businesses, according to Aon, is pegged at a staggering 30% for the Middle East and Africa.”

The value of dealing with an expert broker with global capacity and expertise has never been more important.” of information employed by organisations to gain a better understanding of their risks: • Internal audit processes are a method for identifying risk, with 69% of corporates using this approach.

While audit and risk functions are normally kept separate, too much focus on control assurance may lead to new or emerging risks being overlooked or underestimated.

External sources of data - be it external reports or • industry analysis - help inform organisations on the key risks to their businesses. This approach to risk identification becomes more critical when the risks under consideration are macro-economic in nature, such as economic slowdown.

• A structured, enterprise-wide approach to risk identification is becoming more commonplace, especially among larger companies, where the quantum of the exposures is assessed and can be benchmarked. Aon’s survey found that over a third of surveyed organisations are yet to adopt such a formal structure, leaving room for improvement while companies in the Middle East & Africa are most likely to have a formalised approach in terms of enterprise risk management (ERM).

• There is often no substitute for senior management judgment and expertise with 67% of respondents in North America preferring this approach to a more formalised ERM system. While the knowledge and experience of risk directors are undoubtedly invaluable, companies should be mindful of bias and limitation on personal perspective inherent to the views of a few.

This could be further aggravated by the exposure of the intellectual capital vested in the minds of key personnel as opposed to being formally documented.

The value of dealing with an expert broker with global capacity and expertise has never been more important.

A brokerage that understands the industry and business landscape both globally and locally, as well as the trends and emerging technologies that might disrupt your business going forward is paramount to compiling a wellrounded risk management strategy and insurance solution.

Solid risk mitigation strategies and preparedness now, for an economic slowdown in the coming months are crucial attributes for businesses that will allow them to emerge from an economic downturn.

Economic slowdown is but one, albeit most significant, of the many risks that should be unpacked and reviewed inside a formalised ERM programme. n

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EDITORIAL CUSTOMER SERVICE

Digital alone is a poor substitute for the human touch

By Nathalie Schooling

Businesses turning to digital channels to improve customer satisfaction levels are faced with a double-edged sword that could hurt as much as help their efforts.

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EDITORIAL CUSTOMER SERVICE rands are mistaken if they believe that simply moving their customer service function to digital platforms will solve their customer satisfaction ills. In an age of customer centricity, technology is already helping companies improve their customer satisfaction levels, but technology alone cannot be relied upon to deliver results.

The reason for this is simply that the human element remains key to building trusting relationships. There are, however, significant benefits if the synergies between humans and technology can be unlocked through deeper integration between the two.

A recent study conducted by nlighten into corporate SA’s attitudes toward the customer experience, revealed that digitisation and technology (47%) receive a far greater slice of the budget than customer experience (18%).

While this could be a reflection of the broader trend toward digitisation, it does also show a bias away from making real connections with customers.

The human touch remains essential Admittedly, digital platforms are an important tool to help brands engage with their customers, but they do not work in isolation. For true, empathetic relations, the human touch remains essential.

Support for this view was found in the nlighten Business CX Benchmark study, which was conducted during the third quarter of 2019 among mid- to senior managers and executives. The purpose was to establish a benchmark for SA Inc’s awareness of and approach to customer experience (CX).

We surveyed 13 sectors, including consulting, engineering, financial services, government, healthcare, logistics, outsourced services, property, retail, technology, telecommunications, tourism and transport.

The most encouraging result was that there appears to be a greater appreciation of what CX can contribute to a business’s profitability. Nearly three-quarters of respondents see CX as a critical part of their overall business strategy, and that businesses able to focus on

Too few organisations are making full use of big data and artificial intelligence to personalise the customer experience. A wellexecuted digital CX strategy should encompass all these possibilities and enable companies to offer a service that is truly tailored to each customer’s unique circumstances.”

Admittedly, digital platforms are an important tool to help brands engage with their customers, but they do not work in isolation. For true, empathetic relations, the human touch remains essential.” a better personalised service could improve their bottom-line results by at least 5%.

Therefore, while CX is definitely on the executive agenda, the responses to the survey support my hypothesis that despite that conviction, not much is being done about it. All too often, executives support the notion as a great idea, but it appears easier to view technology as the answer to CX woes.

A customer-centric approach rooted in a thorough CX strategy This is visible in certain sectors, such as banking, in which they are reducing their physical footprint while investing more heavily in digital innovations. The question is, how this will affect customer service?

Especially since there isn’t always an increase in call centre agents to make up for the diminished capacity at branch level. Call centres across the globe are despised because of lengthy response delays to what might be simple queries, which flies in the face of delivering an outstanding customer experience.

This needn’t be the case if brands adopt a customercentric approach rooted in a thorough CX strategy.

Take, for instance, the exceptional service that could be delivered if there was real integration between customer service channels. Dialling in to a call centre could be improved immeasurably if the call centre agent seamlessly picks up a query initiated on a digital channel. All too often, the process of identifying and verifying oneself starts from scratch, as does the explanation of the query.

In a similar vein, too few organisations are making full use of big data and artificial intelligence to personalise the customer experience. A well-executed digital CX strategy should encompass all these possibilities and enable companies to offer a service that is truly tailored to each customer’s unique circumstances.

I believe the next evolution in CX will focus on these capabilities not only to improve the customers experience, but to cross-sell and upsell to customers because they truly understand their needs and preferences.

The disproportionate spend on technology revealed in our study is therefore cause for concern. But only for those brands that don’t have a long view on how integrating that with a comprehensive CX strategy can deliver the results they’re looking for. n

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ADVERTORIAL SHELF COMPANY WAREHOUSE

Shelf Company Warehouse Shelf Company Warehouse registers by far the most companies in South Africa, with more than 50 staff members and 11 branches nationwide.

T

hey are also the preferred service provider for leading South African banks, public companies, attorneys and auditors, accounting professionals and members of the public.

Its directors and associates are attorneys, auditors, master tax practitioners and legal advisors.

Services provided Shelf Company Warehouse specialise in high volume, low-cost registrations, with services including: • Register profit companies, private, public and personal liability • Share block companies • External companies • Conversions (CC to COMPANY, PRIVATE TO PUBLIC COMPANIES, PUBLIC TO PRIVATE) • Non-profit companies • Special resolutions • Restoration of deregistered companies and CC’s • Tax registrations (Tax, VAT, PAYE, and import/ export).

Shelf Company Warehouse also drafts custom memorandums of incorporations for: • Private and public companies • Home owners associations • Share block companies (incorporating the Share Block Control Act and Property Time Sharing Control Act, if applicable).

Branches nationwide Shelf Company Warehouse has 11 branches around South Africa, including: Pretoria 323 Lynnwood Road, Menlo Park T +27 (0)86 123 8899 E info@pty-online.co.za Johannesburg 4th Floor, West Tower, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton T +27 (0)86 111 3693 E jhb@pty-online.co.za Port Elizabeth 280 Cape Road, Newton Park T +27 (0)83 561 0053/082 8011 505 /0861 114 213 E pe@pty-online.co.za East London Cnr. Pearce & Tecoma Street, Berea T +27 (0)72 980 4689/0861 114 213 E el@pty-online.co.za Bloemfontein 62 Kellner Street, Westdene T +27 (0)51 430 2297/8 E bloem@pty-online.co.za Bellville Shop 4 The Bridge, 304 Durban Road, Tyger Valley T +27 (0)21 910 4557/9 E bellville@pty-online.co.za Durban Musgrave Centre Office Tower, 8th Floor, Office Suite 814.

T +27 (0)86 111 4609 E durban@pty-online.co.za Polokwane 125 on Marshall, Office No. 2, 125 Marshall Street, Polokwane T +27 (0)15 291 5408 E polokwane@pty-online.co.za Somerset West 170 Main Road, Cnr. Main & Helderberg Road T +27 (0)21 852 2983 E sw@pty-online.co.za Cape Town Office 2, Manhattan Corner, Century City T +27 (0)76 539 9521/27 (0)86 111 4213 E century.city@pty-online.co.za.

Cape Town CBD Shop 3, Waldorf Arcade, St Georges Mall T 072 873 0346/+27 0(8)61 114 213 E ctn@pty-online.co.za

Complete registration services All Shelf Company Warehouse registrations include: • Completed company register • Meeting minutes • Share certificates n

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C O M PA N Y R E G I S T R AT I O N

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Branches Nationwide

SHELF COMPANY WAREHOUSE PRETORIA 323 Lynnwood Road, Menlo Park. Tel. 086 123 8899. info@pty-online.co.za JOHANNESBURG 4th Floor, West Tower, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton.Tel 086 111 3693. jhb@pty-online.co.za PORT ELIZABETH 280 Cape Road, Newton Park. Tel. 083 561 0053 / 082 8011 505 / 0861 114 213. pe@pty-online.co.za EAST LONDON Cnr. Pearce & Tacoma Street, Berea. Tel. 072 980 4689 / 0861 114 213. el@pty-online.co.za BLOEMFONTEIN 62 Kellner Street, Westdene. Tel. 051 430 2297/8. bloem@pty-online.co.za BELLVILLE Shop 4 The Bridge, 304 Durban Road, Tyger Valley. Tel. 021 910 4557/9. bellville@pty-online.co.za DURBAN Musgrave Centre Office Tower, 8th Floor, Office Suite 814. Tel. 086 111 4609. durban@pty-online.co.za POLOKWANE 125 on Marshall, Office No. 2, 125 Marshall Street, Polokwane, Tel. 015 291 5408. polokwane@pty-online.co.za SOMERSET WEST 170 Main Road, Cnr. Main & Helderberg Road. Tel. 021 852 2983. sw@pty-online.co.za CAPE TOWN Office 2, Manhattan Corner, Century City. Tel. 076 539 9521. century.city@pty-online.co.za.

CAPE TOWN CBD Shop 3, Waldorf Arcade, St Georges Mall. Tel. 0861 114 213 / 072 873 0346. ctn@pty-online.co.za SA PROFILE ISSUE 3_21Jan2020_02.indd 47

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EDITORIAL ENERGY

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EDITORIAL ENERGY

Our energy revolution needs the government’s spark

By Terry Billson, CEO, Genergy

We stand on the brink of an energy revolution. As a country, we need to seize this opportunity to really make it work. To do that, we need collaborative thinking and action from both the government and industry.

he rapid growth and connection of renewable energy, the electrification of transport, the development of technologies, which can carry electricity safely and efficiently over vast distances, and improvements in storage technology, have all converged to facilitate this revolution.

For too long, short-term decisions have driven its longterm energy strategy in South Africa. Our energy security depends on government and industry collaborating to produce a sustainable and productive approach for the country’s energy needs.

A looming energy crisis requires a marked increase in innovative and creative solutions to make up the anticipated energy deficit. Most commentators agree that we will need to use a wide variety of different energy sources to mitigate the effects of energy shortages attributable to the decline in fossil fuel energy production.

SA has archaic reliance on coal Within South Africa, the energy mix has shifted over recent years, with a rise in renewable electricity generation. The bulk of renewable energy generated in our borders comes from wind and solar respectively, but there is still an archaic reliance on coal, with over 90% of South Africa’s electricity coming from an ageing fleet of inefficient coal-fired power stations.

The urgency of change is evident on both global and local levels, and South Africa isn’t the only country attempting to adapt its energy mix to be less reliant on fossil fuels. However, South Africa still lags behind many other parts of the world.

The South African Government needs to adopt much stronger policies to ensure it meets its target of reducing carbon emissions by 34% by 2020 and 42% come 2025.

To meet its target, the government needs to facilitate the deployment of a mix of renewable types as it transitions away from fossil fuels. Energy policy and its implementation must be optimised to create a coherent plan to use each resource efficiently and effectively.

Luckily, technology can once again step up to the mark. The digitalisation of the energy industry allows the automation and optimisation of processes, opening up embedded generation and micro-grids. These technologies can bolster the existing grid infrastructure or operate autonomous of it, depending on the technology deployed.

As we find ourselves on the frontline of an energy revolution, the roles played by the fossil fuel and electricity industries will need to change dramatically. The common thread for all must be to keep innovating, developing and introducing new technologies, and collaborating to ensure their efficient uptake throughout the country.

Ultimately, we need the government to come to the party by creating an environment that incentivises the critical industry investment required to ensure that South Africa is going not just to survive but thrive in this new era of clean energy. n SA PROFILE

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EDITORIAL AGRICULTURE

25 years since democracy – how has SA’s agricultural sector performed?

By Wandile Sishlobo, Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa

South African agriculture has progressed markedly over the past 25 years and exports have reached record levels. But how far transformation has gone remains unclear. Organised agriculture and government need to craft a common vision for the sector with clear rules of the game and monitoring systems.

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EDITORIAL AGRICULTURE e can all have different views about the agricultural policies that the South African government adopted with democracy, but the one thing we can all agree on, is that the sector has grown tremendously. Importantly, this expansion was not driven by a few sectors but has been widespread, including livestock, horticulture and field crops.

Of course, the production of some crops has declined over time, most notably, wheat and sorghum. This, however, had a lot do with changes in agro-ecological conditions and falling demand in the case of sorghum, not policies.

This uptick in production has been underpinned, largely, by the adoption of new production technologies, better farming skills, growing demand (locally and globally), and progressive trade policy.

We use the words – progressive trade policy – solely to highlight South Africa’s standing in global agriculture.

South Africa was the 32nd world’s largest agricultural exporter in 2018, the only African country within the 40 top world’s largest agricultural exporters in value terms.

This is according to data from Trade Map. This was made possible by a range of trading agreements the South African government secured over the past couple of years, with the most important ones being the African, European and Asian regions. The African continent and Europe now account for about twothirds of South Africa’s agricultural exports. Asia is also an important market for South Africa’s agricultural exports, demanding a 25% export share in 2018.

An export-led growth strategy South Africa’s trade policy is underpinned by an exportled growth strategy. This means that the country essentially looks to grow its economy by deepening and expanding its export markets. Such efforts can be seen through South Africa’s participation in trade negotiations which seek to increase market access with traditional trading partners such as the European Union (EU) and penetrate new markets in Africa through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

The focus on these two key regions comes as no surprise since they represent a significant portion of South Africa’s export revenue, specifically in the case of the agricultural sector. More than two-thirds of South Africa’s agricultural exports are concentrated within the African continent and the European Union (EU).

The African continent and Europe now account for about two-thirds of South Africa’s agricultural exports.”

South Africa was the 32nd world’s largest agricultural exporter in 2018, the only African country within the 40 top world’s largest agricultural exporters in value terms.”

More recently, Asia and the Far East (particularly India and China) have become a key growth frontier that present South Africa with new opportunities to expand its exports. Overall, Asia has accounted for a quarter of South Africa’s agricultural exports, with indications that South Africa can potentially increase its market presence substantially in the future.

In Asia and the Far East, India and China are especially interesting because they account for 36% of the world’s population, whose economic sizes are US$3.2 trillion and US$15.5 trillion respectively. With India and China headlining the growth potential in Asia and the Far East, this region is significant enough to warrant more attention, especially given that there is currently no preferential market access for South Africa’s agricultural sector in this region.

South Africa is having to compete with the likes of Australia and Chile, who have secured trade agreements that have afforded them a significant competitive advantage which could end up threatening South Africa’s market share and future growth.

India an important agricultural export market for SA If one looks into Asia’s leading agricultural products importers, India is ranked the second importer after China. The products that underpinned this tremendous growth in India’s agricultural and food imports included palm oil, soybean oil, sunflower seeds, coconuts, cashew nuts, cotton, sugar, apples, dates, greasy wool, whiskies, coffee and grapes.

South Africa, although a key producer and exporter of some of the aforementioned products (namely greasy wool, sugar, apples and grapes), doesn’t even feature in the top 40 countries supplying agricultural products to India. In 2018, South Africa was ranked the 46th largest supplier of agricultural products to India by value, accounting for a mere 0.3% of the US$21.2 billion worth of India’s agricultural imports.

The key agricultural products that South Africa exported to India were pears, dog and cat food, greasy wool, oranges, apples, maize seed for sowing, cotton, and mandarins, amongst other products.

South Africa, together with its Southern African Customs Union (SACU) partners have been negotiating a preferential trade agreement (PTA) since the mid-2000s.

However, 15 years of on-and-off negotiations have not

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EDITORIAL AGRICULTURE amounted to a favourable outcome. Negotiations for opening up India’s market have inevitably come with difficult conditions, especially given their substantially larger tariff book. However, given the market size and potential of India, it is important that further considerations be made to allow South African agriculture to capture its export market opportunities.

South Africa’s export share to China remains negligible In the case of China, South Africa’s agricultural exports account for 0.5% of China’s agricultural imports. The key agricultural products that China imports include soybeans, cotton, malt, beef, palm oil, wool, wine, strawberries, pork, citrus and barley. South Africa’s presence within the Chinese market is mainly wool, citrus, nuts, sugar, wine, beef and grapes. But within these products, South Africa’s share remains negligible, with the exception of wool.

What has constrained South Africa’s growth in these markets over the past few years is not the fact that the products in demand are not produced in South Africa, but rather trade barriers. In part, this is because of the way China facilitates agricultural trade

Aside from the exports The increase in agricultural output is the reason South Africa is now ranked 45th out of 113 countries in the Global Food Security Index, making it the only African country within the top 50. We do recognise, however, that boasting about this ranking when millions of South Africans go to bed hungry every day is contradictory.

We must remember that the Global Food Security Index balances the four elements (affordability and availability, quality and safety) to arrive at a rating and covers matters at a broad national level. In this regard, South Africa produces enough food to fill the shelves of supermarkets with high-quality products but still has a long way to go in addressing household food insecurity as many households cannot afford the food that is available in a way that meets their nutritional demands.

What is worth reiterating is the fact that despite South Africa’s relatively lower average income, the country still manages to punch above its weight in terms of food security. This is testament to the country’s competitive agricultural sector and its ability to supply food at a relatively low cost.

Boosting rural households’ income through job creation in the agricultural sector Although the Food Security Index indicates South Africa is food secure, there are pockets of food insecurity within the country when you consider a household-level perspective.

While there are a number of interventions that can assist in supporting households’ access to nutritious food, one form of intervention that can boost rural households’ income is through job creation in the agricultural sector.

With agriculture having gained prominence as one

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What we can not ignore is the anecdotal evidence pointing to a rise of black farmers in some corners of South Africa.” of the sectors that could bring about rural economic development and job creation in South Africa, the government’s approach to realising this vision should be regionally focused. Such an approach not only makes sense in terms of reducing poverty but also in exploiting the potential of underutilised land.

Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape arguably have about 1.6 million to 1.8 million hectares of underutilised land which can be sustainably farmed for increased food security over the long term. This is according to a 2015 study by McKinsey Global Institute.

Admittedly, the current land governance system (communal land) has been cited as one of the hindrances in agricultural development in these provinces as it limits investment. But, solving such matters can take a long time and land reform policy is still being debated across the country. The near-term practical approach that can make a difference is structuring an innovative agricultural finance instrument – such as blended finance – which pulls in capital and human capital from both private and public sectors.

Transformation As encouraging as this agricultural progress story is, some may ask whether the gains we’ve seen in agricultural production over the past two decades have been widely shared across different cohorts of farmers in South Africa?

There are no easy answers to this, as we lack data on the entry-level of black farmers to agriculture in South Africa (and progress). Likewise, even the existing sector has seen consolidation and corporatisation, which means that the number of farmers in the sector has decreased.

However, statistics may not paint the full picture as the professionalisation of the sector has also led to more formal employment opportunities being created for qualified persons as family farms have somewhat been replaced by professional agribusinesses with line managers.

But what we can not ignore is the anecdotal evidence pointing to a rise of black farmers in some corners of South Africa. We see this in field crops, horticulture and livestock.

As we continue on this agricultural journey, let’s always be cognisant of the progress South Africa has made in boosting our agricultural fortunes. And in the quest to grow and be more inclusive, be forever vigilant of the unintended consequences of the policies we seek to implement. Equally, we must never be complacent with the dualism that we continue to see in South Africa’s agricultural sector. n

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EDITORIAL ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE

Resilience, the future of organisational structure

By Deidre Samson, University of Stellenbosch Business School

Future adaptable, agile and resilient structures could be the key to success in a world characterised by disruptive technology and the intelligent automation and connectedness offered by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

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EDITORIAL ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE he need for businesses to compete in a digitally transformed world is likely to have a significant impact on South Africa’s already high rate of unemployment. This means that all businesses should be grappling with the challenge of how to take up the opportunities of the 4IR to improve productivity, efficiencies and drive down costs, whilst retaining employment.

Whilst much of the current debate and discussion about the 4IR focusses on what work will look like by 2030 and the need for re-skilling, little attention has been paid to how the structure of organisations themselves will need to change.

Organisations need to plan how to transition to this future world of work in a way that minimises disruptive restructuring exercises where everyone re-applies for their jobs.

Redesigning work and jobs for technology whilst simultaneously providing the learning opportunities required may be the greatest challenge for organisations in the transitional decade to 2030.

The need to remain competitive by driving down costs acts as a driver of structural change. This leads to organisations announcing layoffs in a cyclical manner as core technology, systems and capabilities change.

The “tectonic disruption” of intermittent restructuring can be avoided by developing structural resilience, using futures methodologies and tools including forecasting and scenarios, to timeously envision future structural changes and the impact on jobs. Organisations can then change in a prescient manner that allows for ongoing re-skilling, lifelong learning and adaptation.

In an environment of increased breadth and pace of change, organisations would transition from hierarchical to “networked structural arrangements” such as the “exponential organisation” – becoming ecosystems where participants add value, rather than work in a rigid structure defined by employment contracts.

The exponential organisation has a more permeable boundary with the external world, invites ideas and innovation and embraces unrelenting change as a way of life. At its core, it is made up of small, agile, multidisciplinary teams excellent at solving large complex problems.

Work can be contingent, remote, outsourced or part of the emerging gig economy of freelance, flexible, ondemand workers. Melding the best of the gig economy with the best of traditional employment brings in diverse, fresh thinking, whilst maintaining institutional wisdom and allowing meaningful innovation.

Jobs of the future will be reconfigured to take advantage of uniquely human attributes not easily replicated by

About Deidre Samson

technology: curiosity, imagination, creativity, social and emotional intelligence, intuition, personal empathy, collaboration, lateral thinking and innovation.

The opportunity is to reimagine work around solving complex business problems, providing new products and solutions that empathetically meet deeper, rapidly changing customer expectations whilst at the same time optimising costs, increasing flexibility and boosting levels of engagement experienced by those performing work.

Demand for jobs requiring technological skills is growing exponentially – SAP Africa has estimated that global demand for data analysts grew by 372% and for data visualisation skills, by more than 2000% between 2012 and 2017.

The exponential organisation has a more permeable boundary with the external world, invites ideas and innovation and embraces unrelenting change as a way of life. At its core, it is made up of small, agile, multidisciplinary teams excellent at solving large complex problems.”

The reality is that it is not only jobs but the competencies required that are being disrupted. The 4IR is pushing work boundaries into exciting, yet daunting new territory.

Artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT) are innovation fields that not only change how consumers expect product and service delivery, but also create new work opportunities whilst eroding traditional ones.

Jobs are expected to evolve based on core skills and the way value is delivered. Skills that can be easily codified, standardised or made routine are the most vulnerable to being automated, while those that require hands-on, situationspecific real-time problem solving are less likely to be.

The ways that value is delivered will also change the nature of jobs, although not necessarily the core skill required. For example, a university lecturer whose expertise was typically delivered face-to-face, classroom style, may now deliver the same knowledge through online platforms, massive open online courses (MOOCS) or through virtual tutoring using intelligent, adaptive personas that change based on students’ unique learning styles. n

Deidre Samson focused on the concept of “structural resilience” in her recent Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree in Futures Studies at the University of Stellenbosch.

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EDITORIAL ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE

Transformation depends on making BEE businesscritical

By Terence Gregory, CEO of Ecsponent

Enterprise and supplier development has (quite rightly) been made the element of the BEE scorecard with the heaviest weighting.

The intention is to encourage preferential procurement and diversify the supplier base of big business and the state, but also the economy at large. The current BEE scorecard affects even those businesses that do not deal directly with the state but engage elsewhere with the government’s vertical supply chain.

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EDITORIAL ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE ith the scorecard structured as it is, failing to engage in meaningful supplier development means it is more difficult to make up ground through other elements, which should bring about more urgent supplier development throughout the economy. However, the evidence of preferential procurement increasing and diversifying the country’s supplier base is not growing as it should.

The reason is that there is a disconnect between the requirements for small business development and the actual needs of big business. Too often, the terms of supply contracts are limiting to suppliers, or they are unable to meet criteria for tendering, or fraud and fronting practices have prevented real transformation from taking place in the supply chain.

Frequently encountered challenges, such as lack of funding, informal accounting and financial practices and controls, a lack of skills and experience, can prevent vendors from getting the step up they require. For large corporates and the public sector, risk management in the supply chain has demanded ever-greater money and resources to overcome the constraints. Enterprise and supplier development have thus become a costly exercise.

The result is often a lack of real transformation and empowerment on the ground, where emerging businesses are not able to meet the criteria for taking on business-critical tasks and are instead left with lowergrade contracts to supply basic goods and services.

Large corporates also find it more difficult to meet their procurement objectives.

Upskilling vendors so that they can operate more formally The solution to this disconnect is to provide the necessary linkages. Many small businesses face growth constraints if they can’t meet the standards of large corporates, so we’ve taken on the task of intervening to upskill vendors so that they can operate more formally.

About Ecsponent Limited

Ecsponent is able to leverage its balance sheet to secure preferential credit terms from suppliers for vendors.

We assist by monitoring every aspect of a transaction when a purchase order is sent out. We work with the vendor to provide skills and training in managing the procurement process, and then we help to allocate funds correctly and formalise the process of delivering goods and services according to the specifications set by the large corporate. If goods are delivered to spec and on time, then both parties benefit.

This linkage solves a massive issue. Large corporates have been looking for ways to implement their supply chain programmes but are eating up valuable time, money, resources, and themselves missing business until they can rectify it. More importantly, they can allocate valuable business-critical supply chain functions to emerging businesses. The key is making sure that commitments are honoured and there is no break in production.

The intent of the legislation is in line with the constitution and will provide much-needed economic impetus if implemented correctly. It’s not just about having more suppliers being created. It’s about formalising the skills sets so that small businesses can begin to grow and move to the next phases of their evolution. That is where real job creation and empowerment will occur. n

It’s not just about having more suppliers being created. It’s about formalising the skills sets so that small businesses can begin to grow and move to the next phases of their evolution.”

Ecsponent Limited (JSE:ECS) is listed on the JSE’s main board under the Financial Services - Specialty Finance sector. It has a growing footprint across South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Group creates wealth by investing in credit and equity opportunities in companies active in attractive and highgrowth sectors in select African markets. The Group’s credit activities are tailored towards enterprise development initiatives that improve financial inclusion for SMEs operating in its select markets in Africa.

Its equity investment activities are sector agnostic and focused towards investing in influential holdings in companies with substantial potential to achieve above average equity returns over a medium to long-term holding period.

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ADVERTORIAL RISK MANAGEMENT

Risk management for water services – the silver bullet for our current water woes Access to safe drinking water and decent, dignified sanitation is a human right recognised by the United Nations and enshrined in our Constitution.

t AHL Water, our vision is aligned with this basic human right as we strive to empower water services institutions with the required skills, procedures and systems to effectively operate, maintain and manage their supply systems in a sustainable manner. As we do not supply or endorse technologies or products, our solutions are unbiased and appropriate, based on our clients’ unique requirements, such as core business, operational model, financing arrangement and budget.

Our approach is underpinned by the universal concept of risk management, which has been adopted by the World Health Organisation for application in water services management. This methodology is called the Water Safety Plan, and forms part of our National Drinking Water Standard SANS 241, and is described as, ‘The most effective means of consistently ensuring the safety of a drinking-water supply is through the use of a comprehensive risk assessment and risk management approach that encompasses all steps in the water supply from catchment of consumer.’1 We begin all projects with a detailed risk assessment of the entire supply system.

The scope of the risk assessment is holistic and aligned with the Capable Plant model of the American Water Works Association, which confirms that a plant will only perform as required if all aspect of plant design, operations, maintenance and management are effectively implemented. In addition to design aspects, we evaluate operations, monitoring, reporting, maintenance, management, asset management, skills and other organisational processes that may negatively impact on the final technical solution.

Legislative requirements form a key part of the risk assessment process to ensure all our solutions are legally compliant; these typically include water use licenses, local bylaws, process controller compliance, borehole registrations, etc.

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The value is in consolidated risk matrix and action plans that allows a client to mitigate and manage all the risks.

There are a number of benefits in that it is a systematic method, easy to follow, can be audited to show the basis of project and budget allocation, and can form part of any organisation’s risk register, thereby ensuring consolidated risk management throughout the organisation.

Perhaps the most important benefit of this risk process is the annual verification process to measure the efficacy of implemented actions that will show that risk has been reduced and this was not ‘wasteful expenditure’.

The Integrated Information Regulatory System (IRIS) of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) provides monthly water quality results.

[See www.ws.dwa.gov.za/IRIS/dashboard_status.aspx] The current picture is bleak, with many municipalities either failing microbiological safety limits or not monitoring the water.

AHL Water has expanded our operations to commercial and private clients. We provide water quality verification audits of all commercial buildings, which include a risk assessment of the system, full water quality analysis as per the national standard SANDS 241, and recommendations for treatment, operations and precautionary monitoring to ensure water is safe now, and in the future. Our recent commercial clients include PRASA, the Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria and Netcare Hospitals. n 1

WHO, WSP Manual, 2009

AHL Water T +27 (0)12 370 3435 M +27 (0)84 506 3447 W www.ahlwater.co.za

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EDITORIAL FIT-FOR-PURPOSE ORGANISATIONS

Are you injecting effective processes into an ineffective business system?

By Pam Lewis, DB & Associates The art of creating a “requisite organisation” is to develop a strong hierarchy of accountabilities that will support effective, efficient processes, stimulate and encourage the behaviours required for sustained success.

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EDITORIAL FIT-FOR-PURPOSE ORGANISATIONS rganisations tend to morph themselves into something that hinders people from working together effectively. They often acquire too many layers; undefined working relationships, strange concepts of leadership, unclear roles and accountabilities, and chaotic compensation systems to name a few. Inserting effective processes and good managerial leadership behaviours into an ineffective system renders them short-term at best.

The solution lies in ensuring that your organisation is fit-for-purpose and able to do business with efficiency, competitiveness, and initiative. The achievement of a requisite organisation is not just executive accountability but a moral leadership duty.

What does a requisite or fit-forpurpose organisation look like?

Structure: It has a universally applicable structure comprising of a clear and minimal hierarchy of managerial layers, accountabilities and authorities, with well-defined working relationships and teams, accountable leaders, and clearly established and levelled functions.

Alignment & process: It has organisational-wide values and a vision which are aligned to all working levels, and a detailed system of managerial-leadership processes, including two-way teamwork, context setting, planning, assigning task, personal effectiveness appraisals, coaching and mentoring, continuous improvement, merit recognition, manager-once-removed leadership, talent pool analysis and development, and clearly symbolic leadership.

Remuneration & reward: It has an equitable differential structure with pay linked to layers and levels, and which considers individual effectiveness.

The achievement of a requisite organisation is not just executive accountability but a moral leadership duty.”

People: It has a system of evaluating individual current and potential capability as well as skilled knowledge and commitment to give practical meaning to having the right person in the right position, as well as for retention of a sound talent pool

What a requisite organisation (RO) brings to the table A powerful way of distinguishing among the very different natures of relationships that are required for an organisation to function optimally, are for example, the manager-subordinate relationships, partner relationships and customer relationships.

It teaches the “how” in redesigning of organisational roles and compensation and reward schemes, so they operate in harmony, instead of undermining each other. It involves a shift in managerial accountability.

Every manager is accountable not just for overseeing subordinates, but for the results of their subordinates.

Instead of blame becoming pervasive, a culture of accountability, coaching, support and training becomes second nature.

A matter of principals

Precision in terminology and concept will enable the people within your organisation to think rigorously and constructively together about the organisation, and to have meaningful conversations about sustaining its requisitions.”

In essence, a requisite organisation is centred around setting the organisation up with a minimum number of levels of hierarchy (fit-for-purpose), with no ambiguous chains of command; each person knowing exactly to whom and for what he or she is accountable for.

There are several concepts and principles connecting people to the world of work that must be considered when building a requisite organisation, including: • Understanding the nature of human work, decisionmaking, and problem-solving • Understanding the nature of capability and people’s capacity to handle complexity • Matching work complexity, the strata of an organisation, and people’s capabilities • Understanding the nature of individual development and how their potential matures over time • Principles of fair recognition and differential compensation

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EDITORIAL FIT-FOR-PURPOSE ORGANISATIONS

To be precise Any true science must have a language of clearly defined concepts and components. Without clear meaning, it is impossible to test propositions, or to talk to each other with any hope of understanding. It would definitely be impossible to train people in its application.

Unfortunately, a lack of clarity pervades the field of management science. We work in a “conceptual swamp”. Lack of precision and understanding of organisational language, concept and terminology confuses and distorts good judgment.

Precision in terminology and concept will enable the people within your organisation to think rigorously and constructively together about the organisation, and to have meaningful conversations about sustaining its requisitions. For the successful building and sustaining of an organisation along RO principles, concepts and methods are used specifically as they are designed with terminology and symbolism becoming part of the common language and makeup of the organisation.

Experience is the best teacher RO training and coaching is critical to ensure the consistent implementation of principles; it must also occur on various levels within an organisation.

Structure breeds trust and flexibility

Custodian level training Custodian level training is aimed at leaders and specialists in the organisation who are held accountable to ensure the nature of work and relationships required

Instead of blame becoming pervasive, a culture of accountability, coaching, support and training becomes second nature.”

About Pam Lewis 66

across the organisation are clearly defined and set up in a way that ensures best operational results and long-term effectiveness.

The target audience includes organisational development practitioners, HR practitioners, specialists, and consultants charged with providing specialist knowledge and consulting services to the organisation with a view to creating and retaining its requisite nature.

In summary, custodian training is applicable to those who are accountable for creating and sustaining a requisite organisation.

Application/operational level training requisite organisations form a framework for organisational effectiveness. Application level training is designed and built into management-leadership capability training wherever possible to provide foundation level knowledge and skills to all applicable individuals within the structure.

It’s centred around the idea to educate for sustainability.

The target audience includes all managers who are responsible for maintaining or guiding a requisite department, unit or team.

Ongoing coaching for managers teaches them to carry out ongoing coaching with people reporting to them to ensure that accountabilities, roles and responsibilities, and working relationships are understood.

RO sounds like building rigidity, but paradoxically, the day-to-day effect is quite the opposite – it provides a strong framework within which people feel comfortable enough to be flexible. It provides a sound foundation for the organisation to be flexible and move quickly when it comes to decision-making. It also diminishes micromanagement through the clarification of accountabilities, roles and responsibilities.

People tend to feel cared for and experience being able to work to their full potential due to the certainty that is created by a sound framework. There is no more guessing what a manager wants or having to lie to “make the numbers” just because you “aren’t really accountable for results that are someone else’s’ problem”. The fact that your manager is held accountable for your results in the long-term gives you a built-in incentive to keep the numbers honest and the business growing. n

Pam Lewis has 18 years’ experience in organisational development across various industries. Her expertise extends to people, processes and systems in key areas of organisational analysis and design, talent management and capability assessment, and related project design and management. Pam now offers her wealth of expertise; knowledge and experience as an Associate at DB & Associates, helping businesses deliver value, unlock potential and motivate individuals and teams towards personal and collective growth and success.

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ADVERTORIAL UBANK

Ubank expands its services to the broader working market Ubank (formerly Teba Bank) is a well-established financial services provider that has grown over the years and managed to entrench itself primarily within the gold and platinum mining communities. The bank has a long and rich history of providing basic financial services to mineworkers and their families, spanning 40 years.

ecently, the bank decided that it has become imperative to extend affordable financial services to more South Africans and has expanded its services to the broader working market in South Africa.

Ubank is a proudly black-owned financial institution, driven by a social consciousness that underpins all we do. Our customers are our owners and we exist to serve them through the provision of financial services that meet their changing needs and improve their lives.

We are proud of our long association with the mining industry, including mineworkers, mining companies, unions and the Mineral Council of SA (previously Chamber of Mines), who have played a significant role in the development of the bank.

Ubank offers basic banking products that include: • Transaction accounts (standalone and package options) • Debit cards (issued by VISA) • Lending products (personal loans) • Savings (fixed deposits, Save Together) • Funeral plan products • Cell phone banking, and • Internet mobile banking

With over 700 employees across branches in six of the nine provinces (Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West), Ubank is committed to providing affordable financial services to its customers. n Ubank Limited is an authorised financial services provider - FSP No.14740 and credit provider NCRCP21 in terms of FAIS and NCA respectively.

Ubank W www.ubank.co.za Facebook/Twitter @UbankSA T +27 (0)86 000 8322

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For more information, go to www.ubank.co.za or visit your nearest ubank.

086000 8322 ubank.co.za Ubank is an authorised financial services and registered credit provider (FSP 14740) (NCRCP21).

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uSave

Fix your funds for your future Grow your money to meet your goals – invest from as little as R1 000

Were you the child who dreamed of lifting the cup in a packed stadium amid cheers from fans chanting your name? Or the child who envisioned a life of performing under the spotlight in front of adoring admirers? Our childhood dreams sometimes transform into adult goals and ambitions. And sometimes we adjust them to the realities of life.

But regardless of how extravagant or how modest, we all have goals. From learning how to drive to losing weight, and everything in between! And a lot of the time, these goals involve the need for money. A car, a renovated kitchen, a holiday, an education for your children or even a new washing machine – they all cost money, and usually, you have to commit to a lot of time, effort and discipline to save up enough to afford them.

It might not happen often enough, but every now and then, a lump sum of money falls into our lap. It could be an unexpected retrenchment package, a well-deserved bonus, a stokvel pay-out, a lottery windfall or a hard-earned pension pay-out at the end of a long career.

Whether it’s planned or not, putting a lump sum to good use is undoubtedly in your best interest. Realising your goal becomes even more of a reality in situations like this, but even if you don’t have immediate plans on how to use your money, putting it aside in a safe, interest-paying investment for a rainy day or for a future purchase just makes sense. If your lump sum isn’t enough to secure your goal right now, putting it into an investment with a high interest rate will give you just the boost you need.

A Fixed Deposit from ubank is the perfect place to put your money. The time, effort and discipline are all taken care of for you with a Fixed Deposit.

What’s more, it’s simple and it’s all up to you. You decide exactly how much you’d like to invest – as long as you invest a minimum of R1000. You decide how long you’d like to invest your money for – as long as it’s between 3 and 60 months. And you decide where you would like your monthly interest earnings to be paid – to your ubank savings account or transactional account.

With a ubank Fixed Deposit, you make just one deposit – no additional amounts can be added onto your investment. And your money needs to stay in the account for the period of time you choose.

This way you earn a higher interest rate – because you can’t withdraw your funds until the end of the period.

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU INVEST FOR? How long you decide to invest for is entirely up to you. ubank allows you to choose an investment period from a minimum of 3 months up to a maximum of 60 months. The longer your money is invested, the more interest you will earn on your investment. And the interest rate that is applied to your Fixed Deposit is determined by the investment period you choose. So*, if you have R500 000 or more to invest for 60 months, you can earn up to 10.25% per annum in interest.

HOW DO YOU APPLY FOR A FIXED DEPOSIT? It’s really easy. Just bring the following with you to your nearest ubank branch and a consultant will complete the application form with you: • Your green bar-coded South African ID book, smart card or a valid South African passport • Proof of your physical address (not older than 3 months) • Your latest payslip/legitimate source of funds • A minimum deposit of R1 000 • A savings or transactional account for the interest to be paid into Take control of your future and achieve your goals with a Fixed Deposit from ubank. Come into a branch and speak to one of our consultants or call us on 086000 8322 for more information.

FIND OUT MORE… Visit the ubank mobisite – www.ubank.co.za Phone the ubank call centre. Visit any ubank branch to apply today!

* Interest of 10.25% for an amount of R500 000k is not guaranteed. Terms and conditions apply.

086000 8322 ubank.co.za Ubank is an authorised financial services and registered credit provider (FSP 14740) (NCRCP21).

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EDITORIAL INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION

Three ways to kick start your international growth

By Leon Coetzer, UK MD, redPanda Software

For many of South Africa’s fast-growing technology companies, expansion into new countries and markets is a top priority. Indeed, it is a natural next step for companies that are looking to widen their reach, increase profits and become truly global competitors. Given that technology innovation is advancing at breakneck speed, there is also growing demand internationally for skilled IT service providers and talented teams.

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EDITORIAL INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION aving recently set up a new office and software offering in the United Kingdom, our executive team has gained key insights into what to do – and what not to do – when entering a new market. For South African business leaders and entrepreneurs who have their sights set abroad, here are our key learnings from a successful expansion into the UK. 1. Find a trusted local partner When expanding abroad, leaders don’t have the luxury of leaning on their South African networks and support systems. That is why it is imperative to find a strategic partner who has extensive local knowledge and is willing to integrate you into their network and business ecosystem.

When working with this partner, it is critical to develop a trusting and open relationship – and to quickly demonstrate the value that you can bring to the table. This means, for example, reducing the legwork that is required of your partner and taking on as much as possible internally.

The key to success here is to be able to move and respond very quickly, providing detailed proposals and quotes that are easy to understand and action. To be nimble and responsive, make sure that you have the skills and resources available within your teams. When crafting proposals, for example, we draw on our business analysts and product owners to provide compelling business cases that are not only informative but also visually engaging and easy to understand.

2. Master the pain points Every market has different challenges and pain points, just as every company and client has different pain points.

When establishing a new presence, devote time to understanding the unique pain points of customers in the market. This understanding should then shape your strategy and your offering. Importantly, be open to change - and to pivoting on the strategy or plan you initially entered with! For example, we entered with a broad offering of enterprise software solutions for retail clients – yet as we became more immersed in the UK environment, we began to narrow our focus and concentrate on developing enterprise mobile solutions for hardware players.

About Leon Coetzer

To succeed in addressing pain points, you must not only demonstrate your own credibility and expertise, but you must also innovate within your vertical. For example, our UK customers were often daunted by the cost of software licences, which needed to be renewed annually.

To address this challenge, we develop highly customised mobile applications and enable customers to pay a once off fee to own the software, and the intellectual property (IP). If the once off fee is not manageable for clients, we work with finance houses to provide a financing option whereby the software development fee is paid off over an agreed period. This allows customers to purchase customised solutions that they essentially own – and no longer have to worry about annual licensing fees.

3. Take the lead on innovation Whether you are opening a new office in the UK or elsewhere, decision-makers always have the option of near-shoring or offshoring certain requirements. With this in mind, it is critical to demonstrate the value you can bring as an in-country partner. Given that disruption is the theme of technology today, one of the quickest ways to prove your value is to innovate and bring new (and unexpected) solutions to persistent problems. Be proactive and take the lead, even when you have not been asked to do so! This might mean investing time and resources into projects or applications that are merely used to stimulate ideas and discussions. In the long term, however, these proactive projects usually pay huge dividends.

Within the mobile enterprise space, for example, we built demo applications using OCR (optical character recognition) that enabled users to scan various ID documents (passports, driver licences, etc) as a form of verification. This approach also establishes you as a trusted, consultative partner – instead of a once-off supplier or service provider.

On a broader note, South African technology companies are well positioned to enter developed markets such as the UK and Europe and make an immediate impact. We have a great pool of homegrown talent, our English language proficiency makes us immediately attractive, and the time zone enables easy cross border collaboration. That said, the global marketplace is increasingly cutthroat – and you have to demonstrate your value very quickly in order to become a trusted provider in any market today. n

Leon holds both a Computer Systems diploma and an Enterprise Architect qualification. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the software industry, with extensive experience in enterprise software development. Prior to joining redPanda Software, Leon was a Senior Development Manager, working closely at an executive level with various corporate companies.

Through this involvement, he gained an intimate appreciation of the workings of large corporates. Responsible for strategy and operations in the UK, Leon brings a unique blend of technical and business knowledge to the redPanda Software team.

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ADVERTORIAL OUT TASKING PROCUREMENT SOLUTIONS

Delivering a professional shared procurement service From a young student growing up in South Africa, Reshika Ramlal found herself lured by the thrill of deal-making, be it with her parents, siblings or friends. She always strived to negotiate the best win-win deal.

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any years later and this passion, coupled with her entrepreneurial spirit, have enabled her to become the founder and Managing Director of Out Tasking Procurement Solutions (OTPro).

Ramlal began her journey in her mid-twenties, serving at many blue-chip companies in strategic procurement and supply chain leadership roles.

During this time, the pattern emerging in these companies was that a Barrier made it difficult to buy and sell between organisations. The codes of good practice serve as an opportunity for transformation and growth in our economy.

As willing as corporates are to abide by these codes, multiple challenges present themselves when forging good business relationships between corporates (buyers) and suppliers (sellers).

Such challenges detract corporates from providing opportunities regularly to emerging suppliers and, thus, make it difficult for corporates to maximise their B-BBEE scorecards.

OTPro, however, firmly believes that buying should be simple.

OTPro is an independent house of procurement. It strives to deliver an international shared procurement service. The company’s blueprint business model caters for corporate and procurement governance in the backend, whilst their corporate buyers have the same user experience as that of retail online shoppers.

OTPro’s business model is designed to deliver a new-age buying gateway for corporate buyers in different sectors and industries. It provides an online buying ecosystem for small and large corporates to collaborate and gain mutual benefits by leveraging on the reduced buying cost.

OTPro has reengineered procurement processes based on 15 years of procurement expertise. It makes buying more efficient, whilst risk and governance are adhered to.

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Reshika Ramlal, Founder and Managing Director

Its strategy is based on combining procurement expertise, technology, processes and innovation for delivering efficient new-generation buying solutions and professional services.

OTPro is an accredited B-BBEE Level 1, black womenowned, emerging micro enterprise (EME) and a beneficiary of enterprise supplier development (ESD). Its customers experience total cost reduction, speed to market and seamlessly contribute to localising economies. By enabling this, it collectively opens the door of opportunity for economic growth in South Africa, which has a direct or indirect impact on every South African citizen. Buying local is lekker!

‘We are all leaders and game-changers. We demonstrate this as we go on making key decisions in our lives – as parents or coaches, in our jobs or in our communities. I once accepted a challenge to list the things that could be improved if I did something to improve it.... Never did I imagine that task would one day culminate in OTPro – a shared service brand that is changing the way we procure, creating opportunity in our local economy and delivering innovation in supply chain,’ concludes Ramlal. n

Out Tasking Procurement Solutions (OTPro) T +27(0)81 525 3906 E reshika.ramlal@otpro.biz W www.otpro.biz

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OTPro Marketplace

Innovative. Intuitive. Intelligent 5 Muller Street South l Buccleuch 2090 l Gauteng - South Africa reshika.ramlal@OTPro.biz

www.otpro.biz

AN EVOLUTION TO REAL-TIME PROCUREMENT OTPro’s intelligent realtime Marketplace brings the convenience and simplicity of the consumer shopping experience to the business user with unparalleled purchasing control, compliance and savings.

The OTPro Marketplace’s agile system provides realtime guidedbuying controls that instantly directs users to your preferred suppliers and products based on your procurement rules.

The real-time processing of structured and unstructured data also powers advanced capabilities like instant alerts, risk analysis, analytics and price/product compliance enforcement.

If you are seeking a simple, agile and dynamic marketplace solution that will drive adoption, compliance and impactful procurement savings...

Search is Over®.

An Independent House of Procurement Supply & Demand Ecosystem Suppliers • • •

Product catalogs of Buyer -nominated ESD suppliers Products and services of OTPro-identified suppliers Specialist services - Industry specific incubators - Legal - Audit / Tax - Advisory

OTPro Marketplace Supplier vetting BEE register and reporting Product catalogue management Consolidated invoicing Preferential procurement Category management

Buyers • • •

Buyers from all industries Corporates seeking leveraged buying / economies of scale Ecosystem cross buying

Gateway for pre-vetted suppliers to sell to any corporate buyer within the ecosystem

Seasoned global procurement specialists Industry-specific category & commodity specialists New generation professional procurement buyers, skills development programmes, learnerships

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EDITORIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Why business owners avoid help in times of need

By Christian Harbeck, franchise partner at ActionCOACH Entrepreneurs share very similar characteristics; they are determined, confident, self-driven and many demonstrate a strong appetite for risk. It is these positive traits that drives success. On the flipside, these characteristics can result in entrepreneurs resisting the support and guidance from others.

Why? Because when you are decisive and used to being in charge, it is difficult to accept help. Here’s the top three causes: pride, prejudice and price.

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EDITORIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP ne often talks about pride and ego in the same sentence. As if having an ego is a bad thing; it really isn’t.

Your ego is your sense of self-worth, it is what makes you the confident entrepreneur you are. The problem is most of us don’t like being wrong or not having an answer, so we resist the support of others – as if their input would somehow make us unworthy. This is a natural human condition and probably our biggest downfall as a species.

The reality is that pride creeps up on us, when you are used to doing things alone, as many entrepreneurs are, your frame of reference becomes ‘how do I solve this?’ or ‘I should know how to course correct’. This going it alone thinking becomes a habit over time. This mindset actually stops you from seeing the reality of a situation, it limits your ability to find better solutions and it can ultimately be the death knell of your business.

Successful entrepreneurs view a business coach, mentor or any kind of professional development as an investment not an expense.”

Fear of being wrong is prejudicial Fear lurks in the subconscious mind like a slow growing disease. We all have fears – some big and some small – but it is our ability to look inside ourselves and accept the vulnerability that comes with maybe being wrong, that propels us forward to be a stronger business builder.

The fear of being wrong is a very common prejudicial belief system and there is no shame in that. However, if the fear stops your business from getting ahead, then you should realise it is time for a change. In my experience business owners who are more open to discuss the difficulties they encounter, are more likely to make the necessary changes, before they become a business threat.

Making mistakes actually gives you the opportunity to learn, adapt and grow. Let’s face it, a successful business aims to make profits to sustain its employees and owner. By accepting that there are times when you need guidance, you can inject new life into a problem and ultimately sustain a healthy growing business for yourself and your employees.

As difficult as it may be for business owners, trusting an outside business expert to come into your business can literally save your business – especially during tough economic times.”

Help is a business expense There is a misconception that business advice and professional guidance is pricey. The reality is nearly every millionaire has at least two (or more) coaches or mentors to help them get perspective, challenge their thinking and provide systems and tools that have proven to work.

Successful entrepreneurs view a business coach, mentor or any kind of professional development as an investment not an expense.

You can only benefit from having a fresh pair of eyes on your business, and the advantage of an additional set of skills to take an in-depth look at the structure and day to day running of your business. Ultimately, this knowledge allows coaches to suggest changes at an operational and structural level of a business that allows it to operate more efficiently and to reach key business objectives. A coach can enable you to be the best marketing manager, or sales director, or training coordinator as well.

As difficult as it may be for business owners, trusting an outside business expert to come into your business can literally save your business – especially during tough economic times. After all, a business coach and an entrepreneur have the same goal, for the owner and the business to achieve big success. n

You can only benefit from having a fresh pair of eyes on your business, and the advantage of an additional set of skills to take an in-depth look at the structure and day to day running of your business.”

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ADVERTORIAL BROADSMART

Make digital platforms work to improve your business effectiveness Broadsmart is a is a Level 1 BBBEE technology company focused on digital convergence in the Telecommunication, Media and Technology (TMT) sector. We deliver a full spectrum of innovative and adaptable solutions across business and organisational requirements.

ith the expertise of our dedicated team, we help organisations of every size and industry to integrate digital technology with their business. We provide the best-in-class solutions that enable organisations to create, manage, secure, distribute live and on demand video to reach internal and external audiences. We customise solutions to meet specific organisation requirements and partner with leading technology companies such as SENTECH to integrate the best global solutions for our clients.

Some of our recent projects include:

The development of an online education video portal for delivering on demand mathematics and science courses for Grade 8 to Grade 12 pupils in conjunction with SENTECH and XL Learning.

Live Streaming the 2019 GovTech Conference to over 10 000 viewers in conjunction with SENTECH and Amazon Web Services.

Contact us to understand how you can make digital platforms work to improve your business efficiency. n

Development of the NOWTV app and online streaming service that showcases the best of local content in Botswana.

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BROADSMART info@broadsmart.co.za

www.broadsmart.co.za

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The Professional Home of Internal Auditors | Part of the Global Network of IIA Institutes Local Custodian of the IIA Standards | Provides Internal Audit Career Path Standards Provides Internal Audit Occupational Qualifications | Confers Internal Audit Designations

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Upskill your internal auditors through articles (learnerships) uniquely designed for the profession The Leadership Academy for Guardians of Governance, a subsidiary of the Institute of internal Auditors South Africa (IIA SA), is an accredited provider of the articles program for internal auditors in South Africa. Upon successful completion of our programs your internal auditors will achieve fully SAQA accredited occupational qualiďŹ cations at NQF level 7 and 8. The programs are designed to build competence, thus enabling them to perform quality audits in line with the International Internal Auditing Standards.

BENEFITS TO THE EMPLOYER Can recoup part of the fees from the skills development levy payments through grants by your SETA Skills improved in a short space of time Develops competent internal auditors Training is aligned to the requirements of the IIA SA Employees will require less supervision due to acquired skills Improving productivity and quality of work Assists to identify skills and training gaps Our detailed logbooks can be used for the performance management process of the trainees Tax beneďŹ ts

For more information visit: www.governanceacademy.co.za or Contact: Lemmy Kave | Tel: +27 11 609 1761 (ext: 207) E-mail: Lemmy@governanceacademy.co.za

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THE INSTITUTE OF INTERNAL AUDITORS SOUTH AFRICA (IIA SA)

The IIA SA is part of an international network representing the interests of Internal Auditors worldwide. As a part of this international network, the IIA SA upholds and supports the fundamental tenets of the profession - the Code of Ethics and the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing.

The IIA SA supports the profession by providing a wide range of services dedicated to the education and advancement of internal auditors and dynamically promoting and developing the profession in South Africa. The IIA SA’s objectives are to build the profession, its credibility and a thriving business environment in South Africa.

We serve internal auditors in South Africa by offering Technical Guidance, Professional Training Programs, Certification Programs, Continuing Professional Development Opportunities, Conferences and Networking Opportunities.

PROGRESS THROUGH SHARING Telephone: +27 11 450 1040 I Website: www.iiasa.org.za

THE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOR GUARDIANS OF GOVERNANCE The Academy is a subsidiary of the Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa. The Academy is the training arm of the Institute and operates under its own governance structures, including the Academy Board.

It is responsible for providing the learnerships that lead up to the qualifications that underpin the IAT and the PIA. Once the trainee has completed a learnership through the Academy, the individual will go through an assessment conducted by the IIA SA.

Your Professional Development and Quality Assurance Partner

Telephone: 011 615 0355 Website: www.governanceacademy.co.za

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EDITORIAL BUSINESS SUCCESS

Your five-step guide to getting unstuck when in a business rut

By Diane Boorman, founder at Brand Analytics, business enabler & mentor Often within a business cycle, we tend to get into a rut as a result of routine or just doing business our way. When this happens, it is easy to complain or talk about the challenges rather than the positive, exciting opportunities it presents; just in case others might steal your ideas or even see you as successful?

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EDITORIAL BUSINESS SUCCESS t is no secret that South Africa’s small business failure rate is almost 80% within the first three years – this means the average entrepreneur’s chance of starting a business, growing it and creating muchneeded jobs is painfully slim. If you find yourself in a scenario where you are successful, you should feel proud and allow others to take note, even going as far as giving advice and making suggestions for improvement in your business to take it to the next level. Ideally, we want to be learning every day, even from one another – with the goal of growing. Here’s your five-step guide to how.

1. Take the time to understand where you and your business are currently at For those entrepreneurs or business owners who are truly stuck, the first step should be to take a step back and have a long, hard look at why you believe this might have happened.

Have you been doing the same thing for far too long, so that you cannot seem to change? Just because it’s always been done, doesn’t mean it’s what should be done. Is it fear that keeps you from moving forward?

Or is it perhaps your pride?

In many cases, it might be that you do not know what to do to move forward. All these are excuses for resisting change. It is far easier to find a resource, from government-funded programmes, to corporate-funded programmes, mentors, coaches, even Google, and so many other places to turn to for possible solutions.

Personally, as a mentor, my biggest achievement is when my mentees say that I have pushed them beyond their comfort zone and that I managed to get them to think out of the box. I absolutely love that. Why you might ask?

Well, this shows me they are willing to make a change and are looking for new opportunities and methods.

2. Explore who or what can help you It is about working on your business that will allow you the time to study the problem, but then your next step should be to find help. Recent business studies2 show that lack of skills and funding were the reason why many small, medium-sized and micro enterprises (SMMEs) failed. Are you looking at upskilling yourself and exploring all your options?

There are so many options out there and often you just need a fresh opinion. One of the first places to start is possibly attending a network group. At times we just need to think differently by stimulating other areas of our brain – go to an art class, or a place that is very different from your normal day-to-day activity. Join a business lunch or attend a talk presented by an expert to meet coaches, mentors, business owners and other speakers.

3. Relook at your business plan Most business owners get professional help to draft a business plan. In my opinion, these business plans need to be revised once the owner knows where they really want to take their enterprise. Why, you might ask?

Did you know that 42%3 of failed businesses failed to plan and research if there was a market need for their product or service? Don’t think that a great idea or a great product is enough. The start-up graveyard is littered with amazing ideas and products that have failed! Revisiting your business plan will afford you the opportunity to put your stuck situation in perspective, as well as remind you why you started in the first place and where you want to go next. This will most certainly reignite the fire.

4. Put a plan together Once you have taken the time to investigate your business, rediscovered the reason why you started your business, and met with someone to provide expert advice, it is time to put a new action plan together. Will this mean that you need to find new clients, new suppliers or a new market? Be motivated by research that shows companies who have a business plan are more likely to increase profit than those who don’t.

Perhaps you need to diversify or simplify? Whichever direction you decide to take, do not do it without putting a plan together. Devise this with clear action points about what you are going to do, with specific dates against each action, so that you can remain on track.

5. Just do it Now it is time to act. Get up, get dressed and as the saying goes, ‘Put your big girl/boy panties on’ and just do it!

Go find the clients. Go interview the suppliers. Build a product range. Be merciless and discard products that are not working. Add colours to your ranges. Expand your services and product basket – all to retain your clients or at least give them a positive reason to come back.

Often, when we are stuck as entrepreneurs or business owners, we just need a reality check and a push towards being tenacious and innovate thinking in the right direction. Try pushing the boundaries and take the risk and try something new. Have you been exploring how technology can change your every day? Include your staff in your decision-making and include all their suggestions as part of the team when working out your plans.

Our economic situation is very strained currently, but understand what customers need – they have struggles and specific needs, so use your business to solve these for them. There will always be opportunities - you just need to understand your market, and then find and provide the ideal solution. n

References 1. https://mg.co.za/article/2017-02-24-00-small-business-101-avoid-thepitfalls#targetText=While%20entrepreneurship%20experts%20would%20 agree,needed%20jobs%20is%20painfully%20slim 2. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/lack-of-skills-the-reason-for-smallbusiness-failure-2013-04-19 3. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/307724 & https://smallbiztrends. com/2019/03/startup-statistics-small-business.html

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ADVERTORIAL CENTRE FOR RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY STUDIES

Energy Research Programme set to develop human capital In line with the National Development Plan, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) seeks to facilitate the achievement of economic development and social equity by including locally developed cleaner energy technology solutions in South Africa’s energy system.

he DSI supports the implementation of government policies and initiatives relevant to clean energy such as: • The transition to clean energy systems • Mineral beneficiation • Climate change mitigation Government’s intention with these policies and initiatives is to stimulate the growth of new industries that can assist in addressing the triple challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality.

The Energy Research Programme (ERP) is a national programme of the Department of Science and Innovation which seeks to develop renewable energy research capacity and expertise within the national system of innovation, using a hub-and-spokes model.

The programme focuses on key strategic areas within the renewable energy value chain as follows: • Deepening knowledge – undertaking research projects for knowledge creation and better understanding of renewable and sustainable energy.

• Technology development and deployment, encompassing all the necessary processes involved in developing renewable energy technologies.

• Human capital development - developing the required skills set to service the dynamic energy sector at postgraduate level.

• Market transformation - initiatives with government, industry and academia to assist the energy sector with innovative products and services.

The hub-and-spokes model is a collaborative model that recognises and supports the distribution of research capacity and expertise in renewable and sustainable energy, across more than one institution.

The hub is the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies, the central institution through which funding, reporting and general activities are co-ordinated.

The spokes are paired institutions, which focus on a specific area of renewable energy, specifically solar thermal, solar photovoltaic and wind energy.

The current hub-and-spokes is constituted as follows: • The solar thermal spoke is based at the Department

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Prof Sampson Mamphweli, director of the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies at Stellenbosch University.

of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering with the Solar Thermal Energy Research Group, also known as STERG, at Stellenbosch University. STERG is paired with the Clean Energy Research Group (CERG), based in the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Pretoria.

• The solar photovoltaic spoke consists of the Department of Physics at the Nelson Mandela University, as well as the Fort Hare Institute of Technology at the University of Fort Hare.

• The wind energy spoke is located within the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Stellenbosch University, paired with the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Cape Town.

Since inception, the ERP has trained 600 students, registered 38 patents, published 496 papers, produced 17 new technologies and written four policy briefs pertinent to renewable energy.

‘The students we have trained have not only joined the renewable energy sector in this country, but some are working in the international arena as well,’ says Prof Sampson Mamphweli, director of the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies at Stellenbosch University. n

Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies T +27 (0)21 808 4069 E crses @sun.ac.za W www.crses.sun.ac.za 4th Floor Knowledge Centre, corner of Banghoek and Joubert Street, Stellenbosch, 7600

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EDITORIAL RENEWABLE ENERGY

Small-scale embedded energy generation: A part of SA’s smart future 84

‘In the first quarter of 2019, the economy contracted by 3.2%; with energy making a negative contribution to the GDP. Key factors behind the decline were load shedding and the high electricity price.

Faced with an old generation infrastructure and an Eskom in crisis, we must invest in new generation capacity,’ said Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, at the 2019 Windaba conference.

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EDITORIAL RENEWABLE ENERGY square metre a year, especially along the coastal areas where there is a lot more wind available. Additionally, almost 100% of land available is able to produce between 1000 kWh and 1300 kWh a year using solar energy,’ Osborne added.

Osborne believes that South Africa should be exploring small-scale embedded generation, particularly because the price of electricity will only continue to climb.

‘The ever-increasing cost of electricity is especially impacting farmers as they pay the highest tariffs, but they also are the ones who have the most abundant space and land available to install renewable energy on their properties. In the future, more and more farmers will be installing renewable energy on their farms. Next on the tariff list are the residential and commercial sectors.

I believe that you will see more homeowners and businesses installing renewable energy technology on their roofs going forward, since skyrocketing electricity prices will make renewable energy a very viable option for these markets,’ he said.

He notes that the National Development Plan foresees that by 2030, at least 95% of the population will have access to electricity be it grid or off-grid.

Osborne believes that South Africa should be exploring small-scale embedded generation, particularly because the price of electricity will only continue to climb.”

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t is evident that the traditional power delivery model is being disrupted by technological developments related to new systems. Smallscale embedded generation through wind; biomass, biogas and municipal solid waste possess great potential. We must invest in that space,’ he added.

Devin Osborne, CEO of Thula Moya, applauded the Minister’s recognition of the potential held by smallscale renewable energy generation. He encouraged government to not only invest in this, but also make it easier for households and businesses to become smallscale power producers.

Thula Moya is a family-run business focussed on increasing the adoption of renewable energy and the exclusive local dealer of the Archimedes Windmill (AWM), a silent wind turbine suitable for residential and commercial sector use.

‘South Africa is particularly well suited to wind energy.

In fact, we could be producing over 2000 kWh per

‘This adds up to an additional 29 000MW of electricity that needs to be produced, of which 20 000MW has been allocated to renewable energy. To achieve this, the country has committed to start building smart, sustainable cities. This requires the adoption of technologies that will enable our cities to be part of the renewable energy revolution. Installing a single AWM at a residence or business, for instance, can produce roughly 95kWh to 250 kWh a month, depending on location. This can account for over 25% of an average household’s electricity needs, adding between 800kWh and 2000kWh a year, depending on the geographic location,’ Osborne explained.

To maximise energy production, Thula Moya recommend that the turbines be linked to solar PV systems, which could help take companies and households off the grid entirely.

‘With South Africa being rich in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar and with these already supplying electricity at a cheaper rate than that of coal, small-scale embedded generation should be a no brainer’, Osborne concluded. n

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SABS - WORKING WITH AND FOR INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES AND GOVERNMENT

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The South African Bureau of Standards supports the industrialisation effort of the Department of Trade and Industry. SABS is a founding member of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

SABS has an established network of national, regional and international partners that develop technical solutions adopted as South African National Standards (SANS), this in return enables business and government to:

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Improve the quality of products and services Enhance competitiveness and access to markets Ensure that procurement of products and services meet quality standards SABS provides services to assist the implementation of best practice solutions and achievements of quality products and services: More than 7000 South African National Standards Testing services for a diverse range of products of companies to management system standards of products and the application of the SABS Mark Scheme Training of management and employees on implementation of SANS Consignment Inspection Services

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Verification to local content requirements Local production and content is an IPAP initiative aimed at stimulating the manufacturing industry to improve South Africa’s economic performance and increase job creation. All suppliers in the designated sectors will have to meet the set minimum local content requirements if they are tendering for goods, works and service contracts within the public sector

SABS a trusted partner in delivering quality assurance.

Contact SABS to establish support for your standardisation aspirations.

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Tel.: + 27 (0)861 277 227 E-mail: info@sabs.co.za Website: www.sabs.co.za

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ADVERTORIAL University of the Free State

Holistic financial planning education Financial planning has evolved over the years from salesman to advisor to trusted planner.

Financial planning has become a highly regulated profession with the focus being predominantly on technical, technological and product advances. However, the world is rapidly changing and what worked up until now will not necessarily work in the future.

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he School of Financial Planning Law (SFPL) in the Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State prides itself on its qualities of excellence and integrity in providing holistic financial planning education since 2001.

Advanced Diploma in Estate and Trust Administration

The Advanced Diploma in Estate and Trust Administration offers students the unique opportunity to acquire the necessary academic qualification and skills to become fiduciary practitioners. This is the only qualification that is currently endorsed by the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (FISA) as the academic requirement in the process to be awarded the Fiduciary Practitioner of South AfricaÂŽ (FPSAÂŽ) designation.

Rising above the rest, UFS is not only proud to be the first South African accredited education partner of STEP, but to also be one of the only three universities globally with this accreditation. The Diploma puts graduates on the road to become full members of this global professional association as Trust and Estate Practitioners (TEP).

Postgraduate Diploma in Investment Planning The South African public is always being encouraged to plan for the future in the form of investments. Different kinds of investments exist, and it is up to the individual to make the right decisions about the types of investments relevant to their purpose. The Postgraduate Diploma in Investment Planning provides individuals with the

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ADVERTORIAL University of the Free StATEate necessary academic qualification and skills to become experts in the field of investment planning and be able to provide leadership and expert advice within a multitude of financial and legal contexts.

Postgraduate Diploma in Estate Planning The UFS Postgraduate Diploma in Estate Planning provides students with an academic qualification and the necessary skills to become experts in the field of estate planning. The programme intends to deliver practitioners who can act ethically and professionally, think analytically, communicate with relevant role players in the industry, interact effectively with members of the public and evaluate and apply relevant information in legislation, literature and secondary data sources to specific practical scenarios.

New short learning programmes With a focus on educating financial planners theoretically and practically to meet the unique needs of individual clients, the School has launched two new short learning programmes.

The School of Financial Planning Law recognises the importance of retirement planning, not just in South African but globally. Currently only 6% of South Africans are able to retire, and of that number a large majority will still have to downscale lifestyle at retirement. This is a shocking statistic and the need for retirement planning is evident.

With the dire need for better retirement planning in South Africa, it must be ensured that employers are given the right advice as far as retirement fund options are concerned, as well as advice on the proper governance (and management) of retirement funds.

Old Mutual has also identified the need and endeavoured to ensure that they set the benchmark to ensure that Old Mutual Corporate employee benefits consultants are at the forefront of the industry. Thus, the Employee Benefits Bootcamp Initiative, in which a select cohort of Old Mutual Corporate employees are granted the opportunity to take part, was born.

In collaboration with the Ontological Coaching Institute, the School is presenting an innovative and groundbreaking financial coaching programme, in collaboration with Karen White, an experienced master certified coach and Hendrik Crafford, an experienced professional coach and financial industry expert. This programme, which will next be offered in Durban in November 2019, is presented over the course of three days and provides a substantive practical and experiential introduction to using Ontological Coaching principles to equip participants to be more effective financial planners. n

School of Financial Planning Law (SFPL), University of the Free State T +27 (0)51 401 2823 E SFPL_Appl@ufs.ac.za W www.ufs.ac.za/sfpl

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EDITORIAL FUNDING

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EDITORIAL FUNDING

Closing the gender funding gap

By Gugu Mjadu, spokesperson for the 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition

While women have made great strides in entrepreneurship over the past decade, female entrepreneurs still lag behind their male counterparts when it comes to raising capital. While the goal remains to close any funding gap that exists in this regard, a positive upshot has been that many women business owners have proved to be resource-efficient by necessity.

his is according to a report published by Barclays and the Female Founders Forum, which found that men are 86% more likely to access venture capital investment than women are.

Yet, global research shows us that women tend to do better with the business finance they receive. A recent US study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), found that while women generally receive less finance, they produce more revenue per dollar funded.

One local female entrepreneur, who has first-hand experience with the challenge of raising capital, is Phillipa Geard – the CEO and founder of RecruitMyMom, and a previous Entrepreneur of the Year® competition category winner.

‘There are companies and investors who have capital to invest, but the right information is hard to find – especially for women, who unfortunately tend to be less connected than men are in this regard,’ says Geard.

Geard admits that she was unfamiliar with the whole concept of business finance at the start of her entrepreneurial journey.

‘I had no idea where to start looking for capital to start a business. I just had an idea and never thought about the fact that raising capital was an option. As women, we are often risk averse, so anything requiring risk, felt scary.’

To help other aspiring female entrepreneurs who may share Geard’s sentiments, here are some tips on how to gain access to business finance: 1. You’ll never get business finance if you don’t apply A major contributing factor to the gender-funding gap is the mere fact that not enough women apply for capital.

As Geard mentioned, women tend to be more risk averse than men, which is not necessarily a bad thing. However, this risk averseness often prevents female entrepreneurs from taking the first step and applying for capital, which can limit the growth of an otherwise thriving business.

Global research shows us that women tend to do better with the business finance they receive.”

2. Explore all possible funding avenues Whether it be through savings, business loans, financial grants or support from family or friends, it is important to explore all of your options and identify the best funding avenue for you and your business. There is no one-size-fitsall when it comes to financing a business, and you’ll need to do your research and talk to other entrepreneurs to find out what’s out there.

3. Network, network, network!

As a first step, female entrepreneurs need to get out there and connect with other business owners and potential financiers. Echoing this sentiment, Geard adds that any exposure is helpful in this regard.

‘Start networking so that you can find out who to speak to about access to business finance, but to get the ball rolling, look for ways to gain exposure. For my business, I did this through entering competitions like Entrepreneur of the Year® to raise awareness about the business.’

It is important for female entrepreneurs to recognise the importance of their contributions to South Africa’s future economic growth. They need to challenge the status quo by approaching business financiers in their numbers with the view to start and grow their businesses and close any funding gap that may still exist. n

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ADVERTORIAL OMNIPRESENT GLOBAL

Providing businesses with better operational visibility

Omnipresent Global (Pty) Ltd is an independent software company vendor (ISV) that specialises in ubiquitous computation, machine learning (ML), computer vision (CV) and drone applications.

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mnipresent Global (Pty) Ltd was founded in 2016 by township born, Aphiwe Adams. The company prides itself on its extensive experience across sectors and investment in developing South African intellectual property (IP). The company poses a unique capability to develop bespoke solutions, a capability displayed in our many case studies which perpetuate the use of a technology approach to address organisational issues in the digital age.

Our vision is to create a Utopian world through technology. We believe that you cannot impact what you cannot see, therefore our mission is to provide our clients with better operational visibility.

Our products Our product, Onmi-I (Onmi-Intelligence), is a low-cost, near-edge, computer vision system which is geared at addressing visibility issues that our clients who have remote sites/assets experience. Omni-I comprises of a proprietary camera and proprietary edge server.

Issues such as structural integrity, tenant activities and asset condition monitoring that can be ascertained via visual inspections, can now be addressed using our low-cost near edge computer vision system, which provides our clients with an eye on the asset or site – an intelligent one that performs a logical analysis tantamount to a qualified inspection specialist.

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Our products are designed for robust environments and with interoperability in mind. Our high-resolution computer vision cameras are self-powered using wireless communication. This makes them easy to use and to deploy. Our belief is that these products will revolutionise the inspection (i.e. visual inspections), maintenance and surveillance industries.

Case studies Client: SAPO, e-commerce, e-mall, July 2019 An e-commerce platform geared at digitising SAPO, the largest postal service provider in sub-Saharan Africa.

Client: Vodacom, telecommunications, tower inspection, December 2016 A health status survey of cellphone tower infrastructure using drone technology and piloting skills for Vodacom, Africa’s biggest and leading network.

Client: Lubocon, construction, construction site analytics, March 2018 Pre- and post-blast data analysis employing drone technology for Lubocon, an innovative construction company.

Client: Transnet Port Terminals, logistics, container tracking, November 2017 A vision-based asset tracking system for missing containers within the Durban Container Terminal, the largest and busiest shipping terminal in sub-Saharan Africa.

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ADVERTORIAL OMNIPRESENT GLOBAL Client: Transnet Group, track & trace application, October 2019 A web-based/mobile application which integrates tracking devices date on key Transnet equipment for predictive and prescriptive maintenance.

Client: Koolcon, construction site analytics, July 2018 Stockpile volumetric calculations using drone technology for Koolcon, a multifaceted construction company.

Client: Landrover, marketing, videography, January 2017 Provided aerial videography services to launch the Land Rover Evoque, a luxury SUV, in South Africa.

Omnipresent Global Managing Director, Aphiwe Adams, has a strong software architecture, UAV and project management background. He has over eight years’ experience, during which a greater part has been in developing software architectures and UAV applications in sectors such as mining, construction, agriculture, telecommunications and logistics.

In the latter part of his career, he has been involved in market research, investment strategies, development studies and business models as well as financial modelling. In the former part, he was involved extensively in project development which involved detailed development of OPEX and CAPEX budgets for input into bankable feasibility studies and business cases for raising capital.

Adams has achieved the following entrepreneurial accolades: • Winner of ‘The start-up weekend computation’ • Finalist at SAB Kick-Start • IMB & Seed Academy’s top 15 Social Innovators • MAXUm entrepreneur award at The Innovation HUB • TIA’s 100 most Innovative Minds • ITU World Finalist • Standard Bank Industry 4.0 Challenge

Our services As an ISV, our core services are in software development.

In addition, we have invested in developing the company’s capacity in drone applications and licensing.

To date, the company is able to provide the following services to our clients.

Software • Mobile and Web application development • Cloud computing • Embedded programming • Machine learning • Computer vision Drone In agriculture: • Drainage and water management • Vegetation change tracking (NDVI) • Erosion detection • GIS mapping Power and utility inspections: • Servitude inspection (vegetation, gates, erosion and general conditions) • Fast inspection (general state of line) • Medium to slow inspection (spacers, vibration dampers insulators, bird nests and location of other obvious abnormalities) • Infra-Red inspection (looking for defective joints that can’t be seen with the naked eye) Mining/construction • Volumetric calculations • Pre- and post-blast data capturing • Orthomosiac (2D/3D models) and digital surface models Telecommunications • Rapid audit • Detailed audit • Status checks n

Omnipresent 90 Rivonia Road, Sandhurst, Johannesburg 2196 T (+27) 10 035 0585 E info@omnipresent.co.za

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EDITORIAL DESIGN TRENDS

The impact visual & design components have on your profits

By Rudolph Pieterse, CEO of Multidimensions We are all aware that you should not judge a book by its cover, but even if you did, you would have to first take note of the particular title amongst the thousands of other options available to you as a consumer in the global marketplace we all operate in today.

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EDITORIAL DESIGN TRENDS s true as this is for literature, the same rule also applies for your business as an entrepreneur. It is very likely that whatever industry you find yourself in, you are competing fiercely for business against a multitude of other enterprises offering similar services to you. So, what can you do to gain a competitive edge?

One way that you can give yourself an advantage above the rest, is to ensure that the visual branding of your business is designed in such a way that you stand out significantly, yet effectively, amongst the rest of the “herd”, while still ensuring that it is done in such a way that the appropriate and true professional image of your business is correctly conveyed.

If done in a creative way, the golden rule of “first impressions last” will once again ring true for your organisation, whereby you will benefit significantly in the long term. By what you are portraying as a small business owner through your design and visual elements, will very likely give you a foot in the door with prospective clients above others who are all hungry to step in and take your place if given the first possible opportunity.

If done in a creative way, the golden rule of ‘first impressions last’ will once again ring true for your organisation.”

How to can make a difference in your enterprise • Get yourself trained on the basic packages that are available so that you know what’s possible, which is likely to be far more significant than you thought.

Based on the knowledge you obtain; you can effectively communicate and even speak the ‘lingo’ of your designer or agency. At the very least, educate yourself on the full Creative Cloud offering. (Adobe Creative Cloud now provides 22 desktop programmes and 14 mobile apps that puts one right in the centre of the mobile design revolution.

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ASK AFR

EDITORIAL DESIGN TRENDS • Do some research on how viable it will be for your particular business to up-skill an internal staff member or more than one if required, to take potentially up to 50% of your design and branding work in-house.

• Find a consultant that you can trust and rely on who can advise you and provide their professional opinions about the offerings, as well as costs and quotes, provided to you by your existing or potential agency.

Up-skilling is the only solution for an ever-changing digital landscape This will include far more than just an eye-catching, clever logo and old-school thinking such as professional letterheads. Instead, it is vital to up-skill yourself on the visual movements and most recent trends relating to all business communications. As a creative agency, we can provide more information on this to interested parties.

There’s a massive movement within organisations currently; a trend to bring design work in-house. With the correct training, we believe a lot of work can be done this way, possibly saving the business owner a vast amount of money. However, the individual(s) appointed in this position must have a thorough, up-to-date and comprehensive understanding of how to carry your brand from what can and should be done in-house, as opposed to which parts still require the assistance of a professional agency that are on the cutting edge of the latest trends.

Always keep in mind that a saving in the short term might save you some money there and then, so understanding completely what should be outsourced when relevant is beyond crucial, due to the simple fact that if done incorrectly it can result in massive losses if it ends up doing damage to your business brand, which you possibly have spent years on establishing.

I can’t emphasise enough that business owners should take this very seriously as one of the most important points when making business decisions, as it is vital to the future of their enterprise that they comprehend the crucial difference.

With the coming of age of a world run by social, as well as digital media and marketing, the entire marketing game has and will continue to change.”

Training provides many new opportunities and options The training courses that are available through experienced agencies like Multidimensions, allow inhouse creatives to immediately put the knowledge they

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There’s a massive movement within organisations currently; a trend to bring design work in-house.” have obtained into practice. Courses in graphic, web & video design, as well as digital marketing are often very good investments. Training in order to obtain this knowledge is available in a variety of ways, including short, intense and hands-on options, but it is however significantly important to ensure you choose a course provider from who you will walk away with ample material to continue learning as you carry on from there in the workplace, or alternatively, an online training school providing more flexibility.

The landscape for creative agencies and businesses has changed during the last five years. During this somewhat short period, marketing budgets have been cut drastically, leaving individuals in the creative departments of organisations with no up-skill or motivation to want to improve on what knowledge they already have. This is a sad reality, which every organisation needs to address as a priority in order to remain successful and current.

Without doing so, the business will not be moving along with industry expectations and will very soon not be able to meet the demands that their clientele are now requiring.

Furthermore, with the coming of age of a world run by social, as well as digital media and marketing, the entire marketing game has and will continue to change.

You now only have a couple of seconds to grab your customer’s attention, whether it be through print, digital or social media & marketing. If you’re going to succeed in this game, you must be ready to create collateral at an incredibly fast pace, while still adhering to the highest professional standards possible.

Through Multidimensions and the variety of ways we assist businesses, we do, however, believe in showcasing techniques that don’t cost an arm and a leg, resulting in a significant return on investment for the organisation. We do this for the benefit of everyone, driven by a motivation to assist in as much economic growth in our country as possible, which will benefit us all in the end.

Upskilling is critical. The answer is simple, ‘knowledge is power’. And nothing gives your brand more power than for you to know exactly how to use the current media landscape for the ultimate return on investment possible.

Multidimensions, with our own uniquely designed services that provide solutions for these requirements and up-skilling, will be more than willing to make the time available to discuss this in even more detail with any business owner who realise they can’t afford to be left behind in this ever-changing landscape. n

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PERSONAL PROFILE ANDREA RADEMEYER

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Andrea Rademeyer, CEO & founder of Ask Afrika (Pty) Ltd

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PERSONAL PROFILE ANDREA RADEMEYER

An icon for female entrepreneurs in Africa Andrea Rademeyer is much more than a CEO and researcher—she is an icon for female entrepreneurs on the continent and has gained success and global recognition as a leader in her field over the past 25 years.

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ademeyer founded Ask Afrika in 1995 and set out to build an entity that combined best business practice with scientific research methods and a strong adherence to research and business ethics.

Through her vision and leadership, Ask Afrika has developed into a highly successful, Proudly South African enterprise that also competes with global market research companies.

She sees business as playing a pivotal role in shaping and changing society and is committed to that change through uplifting societal voices and making them louder than ever before. It is with this in mind that she has grown her business to employ over 100 staff members under the guidance of a strong female senior management team.

Her colourful, passionate and enthusiastic leadership style has ensured that Ask Afrika is set apart from other research companies with particular regard to the delivery of high quality, scientifically accurate and ethically firm research outputs. She is an acclaimed conversationalist who is respected for her integrity, loved for her eccentricity and very well known for enjoying life to the fullest.

Ask Afrika is a full-service market research company with 25 years’ experience, working across Africa, which makes it the partner of choice for local and multinational companies alike.

The company has a demonstrated track record of partnering with clients in the financial services, retail, FMCG, telecoms, automotive and public sectors for customised research.

Besides being specialists in brand and customer experience research, Ask Afrika is also the preferred partner for government and NGOs seeking proactive social research.

Ask Afrika’s experience in social research includes critical thinking on how to prevent result bias, pragmatic decision-making in overcoming field challenges, assuring multiple donors that all respective objectives are met, and conducting research that stands up to the rigour of the scientific community.

The company is well known and respected for creating some of the most exceptional, go-to industry benchmarks, including the Target Group Index (TGI), the Ask Afrika Orange Index®, the Ask Afrika Icon Brands® and Ask Afrika Kasi Star Brands.

Its brand and product research services remain amongst the most rigorous and ethically sound services to retailers and FMCG companies on the continent. Its strategic brand architecture suite includes the Ask Afrika Icon Brands® survey - a scientific benchmark used to determine which brands are most consistently used by South Africans.

The company also provide quality research tools that enable service tracking. One such a product is the Ask Afrika Orange Index® survey which ranks businesses on their customer experience, highlighting where improvements can be made in their own sector and across all other sectors.

Today, marketers have access to multitudes of available data; however, being given a plethora of statistics does not necessarily translate into the ability to create a winning strategy. Ask Afrika prides itself on applying market research intelligence as an art, to use available data to find the right channels through which your business can engage with consumer segments within a target market.

As a team, Ask Afrika is committed to engage in long-term, strategic partnerships with its clients, continuously having credible conversations to drive business success. n

Enabling game-changing decisions through market research Ask Afrika is built on the principle that research is done for the greater good. Its high-quality market research and deep analysis allow brands and companies to identify opportunities within their businesses and markets to enable sustainable growth.

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PROFILE TWINSTAR PRECAST

Some of the non-standard products Twinstar Precast manufacture include manhole covers, junction box slabs, stormwater grid inlets and stormwater manhole slabs.

Precast custom products In the concrete pipe and manhole cover market the emphasis is typically on high volumes, thus the time to design and build moulds for non-standard products disrupts the production line.

Manufacturing once-off products is time consuming, will require additional skills and supervision and is usually not profitable for the manufacturing company.

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winstar Precast was established in 2014 after identifying the gap in the market for precast custom products and once-off items.

Working with concrete requires specialised knowledge and skills. Not all contractors have the necessary manpower and facilities to manufacture these products on site. Twinstar Precast aims to address precast problems in the civil construction environment in an affordable and timely manner, manufacturing any precast concrete product to the customer’s requirements and design.

Twinstar Precast typically manufacture precast concrete products which are not already available on the market, as well as once-off items ranging in weight from 20kg to 6 tons. The company manufactures most of its own moulds and offers a mould manufacturing service in steel, fibreglass or polyurethane, depending on the weight and design of the concrete product.

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Twinstar Precast are solutions driven and with 26 years’ experience in concrete and the precast industry, understand that every site and project have unique challenges and requirements. The company can assist with non-standard products to complete the contract, no matter the size, quantity or complexity.

Some of the non-standard products Twinstar Precast manufacture include square manhole covers, junction box slabs, stormwater grid inlets and stormwater manhole slabs.

The company also manufactures custom markers to customer specification using a concrete imprint or engraved stainless steel plates.

Polymer products a solution to theft The theft of steel and cast-iron components continues to rise. As a result, Twinstar Precast recently began to manufacture polymer products which contain no metal components.

By replacing metal manhole covers with polymer manhole covers and frames, as well as stormwater gratings, theft and the safety risks associated with open manholes, as well as the cost implications of replacing manhole covers, is significantly reduced.

Twinstar Precast offers both medium and heavy-duty polymer products in line with the SANS 1882:2003 specification. These components can be bought as loose items or cast using the required precast concrete slabs. These can be manufactured with specific imprints and colouring for easy identification of services and the service provider. n

Twinstar Precast Hunky Dory Business Park, 9 Goedehoop Ave, Marvyn AH, Olifantsfontein T +27 (0)12 670 9083 M +27 (0)82 552 1915 E info@twinstar.co.za W www.twinstar.co.za

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EDITORIAL OPINION

Independent experts: Your saviour or your sinker?

By Allon Raiz, CEO of Raizcorp

I was recently asked to do some work for a large financial services company to help them think through and create a framework around building an organisation that genuinely operates differently. Until this engagement, my view was that independent contractors are generally blue-collar workers (sourced through controversial labour brokers) or specialists who interface with mid- to large-sized companies for specific projects – what is now known as the “gig economy”.

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EDITORIAL OPINION his company had two executive directors contracted on a part-time basis to bring their expertise to the organisation daily yet were also able to service multiple clients. Unlike a non-executive director who may be called in quarterly to serve at a board meeting or more frequently at a management meeting, these two individuals worked almost every day at their “client” as executives.

Why this experience proved noteworthy for me is that it highlights the pervasiveness of independent contractors and the plethora of different relationship types they may have within an organisation – full-time, part-time, halfday, executive management, senior management, midmanagement, no management – the combinations are endless.

At this point, I think it’s important for me to come clean about my views on working from home versus coming into a central office environment that we call work. I certainly recognise the benefits of working from home or a coffee shop in terms of travel times, lack of distractions, etc, but in all honesty, I have not seen this model work successfully over a long period.

Two cracks that start to appear once the novelty has worn off are the cost of managing the outputs but, more importantly, the rapid disintegration of the cultural glue that is an unintended consequence of the random encounters in the kitchen or at the coffee station and those awkward urinal or bathroom moments.

I am conflicted about choosing one model (everyone is permanently employed) over the other (as many people as possible are outsourced) as I see pros and cons in both. If you forced me to choose, I would not hesitate to choose the permanent team model at an office but, in the ideal world, a blended approach is probably the most effective way to navigate a rapidly changing environment or market.

In the corporate domain, a blended model is plausible (and is currently fairly common practice) but in the small-business context this blended approach is far more complex to execute. Independent experts who work for small businesses are more than likely not in a strong financial position themselves and are highly susceptible to switching their allegiance to higher paying clients.

Many small businesses I have encountered have found themselves with half-baked projects left behind by one of these evacuating independent experts. Because these projects are incomplete, they have zero effectiveness or

About Allon Raiz

value, and the small-business owner has neither the time nor the capability to complete them on their own.

We need to distinguish between a person brought in as an independent to do a job, and an expert brought in to build or implement an element of the business, for example, a process or a website or new software. Small businesses are in a build phase constantly and thus need these expert builders.

If the small-business owner experiences an expert leaving before a project is completed and has the courage to retry (which most don’t), they are generally confronted with a situation in which the next independent expert pooh-poohs the previous methodology and insists on starting again. Budgets are always exceeded as multiples of the original budget, and this in a context where every cent counts. The small-business environment generally has far less sophistication and capacity to manage these independent experts in terms of budgets, deadlines and alignment to brief which makes both scope and budget creep a virtual certainty. Another element not often spoken of is the emotional toll of cycling through independent experts who feel like a series of broken relationships leaving one feeling self-conscious and inadequate.

So, the question of independent experts is not so clear cut for small businesses. While there are many exceptions and many great independent experts, by far the majority of small businesses I have been involved with over the past 20 years find themselves in the dilemma of not being able to afford these resources full-time but cannot manage and conclude the work required themselves. As a result, there are gaping capacity and capability holes in businesses that take many years to fill and which are smoothed over in the meantime with a combination of hope and glossy brochures.

Where I have seen small businesses succeed is when their products and services are built from a strong internal core competence, and where the growth and depth of those competencies is slowly layered by additional internal resources or external experts with very specific, short-term value addition and not long complex engagements. I call these resources the “riveters” and “welders” who come in to do a specific job and then leave. Only once the business gets to a stage where there is sufficient capacity to manage these independent experts and there are sufficient financial means to withstand the inevitable budget overshoot, should a small business consider hiring external experts as part of a blended approach. n

Allon Raiz is the CEO of Raizcorp. In 2008, Raiz was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and in 2011 he was appointed for the first time as a member of the Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship. Following a series of entrepreneurship master classes delivered at Oxford University in 2014, 2015 and 2016, Raiz has been recognised as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School.

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ADVERTORIAL PTA AGENCIES

Quality cleaning products manufactured to a high standard PTA Agencies (Pty) Ltd is a manufacturer and supplier of household detergents.

It also supplies personal paper, related products and medical consumables.

T

he company manufactures products used for general home cleaning, laundry rooms, washrooms, (bathroom products) commercial cleaning as well as for carpet and upholstery cleaning.

Its product include: • Kitchen detergents: dishwashing liquid, oven cleaners, drain cleaners, scouring cream/powder, and all-purpose cleaners.

• Bathroom products: air fresheners, liquid hand soaps, sanitisers, toilet bowl cleaners, window cleaners, deodoriser blocks and thick bleach.

• Laundry detergents: laundry liquid, fabric softener, stain remover, laundry powder and bleach.

• Floorcare products: laminated floor cleaner, floor polish and floor stripper.

PTA Agencies has been in existence for 19 years and is a 100% black female owned company. It is also ISO 9001:2015 certified.

The company prides itself on offering its customers quality products manufactured to a high standard.

All PTA Agencies’ products are environmentally friendly and biodegradable. The company has adopted a “go green” philosophy and is committed to reducing its carbon footprint by only using recycled boxes for packaging. The company also encourages its clients to reuse their containers.

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PTA Agencies’ employees are dedicated to serving its customers with the best possible customer service as customers are viewed as the most important visitor on company premises.

‘Our customers are not dependent on us. We are dependent on them. They are not an interruption of our work. They are the purpose of it. They are not outsiders to our business. They are part of it. We are not doing them a favour by serving them. They are doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to serve them’, is the ethos that has helped make PTA Agencies the success it is today. n

PTA Agencies (Pty) Ltd Unit 4B Railway Street, Tygerberg Station Park, Parow, 7500 T +27(0)21 939 7635 F +27(0)21 939 7715 E afa@wam.co.za W www.ptapremiumproducts.co.za

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‘Manufacturer and suppliers of household detergents. Suppliers of personal paper, related products & medical consumables’.

Kitchen Products

Bathroom Products

Maxi Dishwash Oven Gloves Active Drain Cleaner Scouring Cream Active All-purpose Cleaner Scouring Powder

Air freshener Hygiene + LHS Deodoriser Blocks Sanitiser Pine Toilet Bowl Cleaner Crystal Clear Active Bleach

Laundry Products

Personal Care Products

Laundry Liquid Fabric Softener Active Thick Bleach Laundry Powder

Floor Care Products Laminated Floor Cleaner Floor Polish Floor Stripper

Hygiene + LHS Bubble Bath Hair Shampoo

General Products Heavy Duty De-greaser Disinfectant Fluid Bed Bug Spray Car Wash & Wax Upholstery Cleaner Carpet Shampoo Roach Powder Tick Powder

PTA Agencies (Pty) Ltd Unit 4B Railway Street, Tygerberg Station Park, Parow, 7500 Tel: +27 (0)21 939 7635 • Fax: +27 (0)21 939 7715 • Email: afa@wam.co.za www.ptapremiumproducts.co.za

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O N E D AY, T H E W O R L D W I L L L I V E T H I S WAY

Steyn City is redefining luxury city living and will soon be launching it’s new superlative luxury apartments. Imagine paved walkways lined with cafés and restaurants. Add in convenience shopping and boutiques. Place piazza parks throughout, a lake-sized Clearwater lagoon and a heliport on its northern side. Restrict all cars to a three-tier underground basement so that pedestrians have complete freedom of movement. Finally, surround it by 2000 acres of indigenous parklands. There is only one place on earth you could be. City Centre, Steyn City.

KIDS & TEENS WONDERLAND | PRIVATE SCHOOL | SPORT & RECREATION

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SECURI

EATION

Call 010 597 1040 Mark: 082 559 2989 Leanne: 072 078 9562 sales@steyncity.co.za steyncity.co.za

SECURITY | INNOVATIVE INFRASTRUCTURE | COMMERCIAL RETIREMENT | CONSERVATION | LEGENDARY GOLF | HOSPITALITY & RETAIL | LEISURE | EQUESTRIAN | CITY LIVING

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PROFILE Mdito Business Enterprise

Dorah Mavis Sibanyoni, Founder of Mdito Business Enterprise 108

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PROFILE Mdito Business Enterprise

Cleaning & janitorial services business grows into multimillion Rand company Mdito Business Enterprise (MBE) is a black women-owned, registered small/medium entity founded in 2004 by Dorah Mavis Sibanyoni (known to many as Sis Mavis). MBE currently specialises in cleaning and janitorial services.

S

ibanyoni is South African, born on the farmlands in Mpumalanga to the royal Manala-Mgibe Clan under Chief A. Mabena. In her own words: ‘From my humble beginnings, supplying stationary to Eskom Arnot Power Station, to cleaning services and a small consignment shop at Exxaro Arnot Coal Mine, to where I am today, various companies have contributed immensely to the growth of my business. I appreciate the change and development that these companies have brought to my life, which in turn has allowed us to bring hope and change to many others.’

The companies that have contributed to the growth of MBE include: • Eskom Arnot Power Station • Exxaro Arnot Coal • Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions • Roshcon Site Services • Eskom Kusile Power Station • Eskom Kendal/Wilge • Murray and Roberts • Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa • Transnet SOC Ltd • Eskom Hendrina Power Station • Eskom Komati Power Station • Eskom Grootvlei Power Station • Thermon South Africa • Kendal Power Station ‘It all began in 2005. I started working with Exxaro Arnot Coal Mine where I rendered cleaning services to residential homes and hostels for the mining staff. Times were tough as work depended on the number of callouts I got, and with only four casual workers at the time, I could not have imagined that I would be where I am today,’ says Sibanyoni.

The beginning of a life-changing chapter In 2009 Sibanyoni was offered the opportunity to render her services to Roshcon – little did she know that this was the beginning of a life-changing chapter in her business career. During this period, Sibanyoni and her company went through a drastic learning curve.

She underwent training to learn all the requirements concerning safety and environmental policies, and at the same time, her staff capacity expanded from four to 14 employees.

In 2010, MBE tendered for and was awarded the opportunity to render services to Eskom Kusile Power Station.

‘Through successful tendering and customer satisfaction, I have continued working on the Kusile project to this day,’ says Sibanyoni.

The Kusile project contributed abundantly towards the growth and development of Mdito Business Enterprise by enrolling Sibanyoni in learning programmes such as Bridging the Gap (BTG) and Business Management. In 2010, the company’s net value was R7-million in annual turnover with 24 employees. Today MBE boasts a staff complement of 354 employees and a net value of R45-million in annual turnover.

‘My experience while working on the Kusile project has allowed me to implement the knowledge and skills that I have acquired to tender efficiently, manage my business and to build and sustain new business relations. Through this I have been able to further acquire tenders with Eskom, Hitachi Power Systems South Africa (now known as Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa), Thermon South Africa and Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions,’ says Sibanyoni.

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PROFILE Mdito Business Enterprise Other CSI and community development projects in which MBE is involved include: • building houses for impoverished MBE employees • donations to local churches • donations to local residents older than 100 • donations to fund-raising efforts for the needy • and less fortunate • donations of windows during the building of the • Delmas clinic • Cleaning of local schools and police stations ‘At MBE we believe that the employees are the fuel that feeds the company’s success. They play a vital role in the upkeep of the standard of cleaning offered by our company. Our staff clean with a passion and they value and take pride in the service that they render. This is embodied and evident in the company slogan – we love what we do,’ says Sibanyoni.

Recognition and awards

Skills development training for employees & giving back to the community Through partnership with some of their clients, MBE have implemented skills development training for MBE employees through pilot programmes in which MBE cleaning staff are trained and evaluated in computer literacy and administration. Successful candidates are then interviewed and absorbed by the client, which then allows MBE to create employment opportunities for other local residents.

‘MBE have a tradition of giving back to our community.

We offer employment to residents from surrounding areas and farms and we also provide transportation service opportunities that in turn aid and uplift the local taxi industries,’ Sibanyoni explains.

MBE has also assisted the co-ops in the Nkangala District with financial services and start-up capital, as well as giving them business i.e. supplying consumable products for MBE. The company also participated in Enterprise Development programmes led by their clients to assist other small and upcoming businesses, for example, co-ops in the Nkangala District.

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It is no surprise then to learn that Mdito Business Enterprise has won several awards and been recognised on various platforms for its business excellence, including: • SMME of the Year at the Nkangala District Business Expo in 2014 • Dorah Mavis Sibanyoni was recognised and nominated by Standard Bank and TOP Media as one of South Africa’s Top Women in Business in 2016 • MBE was awarded for qualifying as one of South Africa’s Top Gender Empowerment Companies in the years 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

‘Words cannot describe how humbled and grateful I am. The company has come a long way and still has a lot to accomplish. God has been faithful, and we look forward to a big and brighter future. I would not have made it this far without the support and business acquired from my clients and core management team who include Aaron Mbhele (HR/IR Manager), Pamela Lekoma (Operations Manager), Nomusa Sibanyoni (Senior Administrator), and Phila Veti (Payroll Manager),’ Sibanyoni says. n

Mdito Business Enterprises CC T +27 013 650 0896 C +27 083 210 6365 F +27 086 546 1263

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EDITORIAL SECURITY SOLUTIONS

Block threats before they target your business

By Adeshni Rohit, Business Unit Manager for Cisco at Axiz Not only are today’s threats more complex and sophisticated, the authors behind them are also increasingly cunning and finding new ways to evade detection.

It’s no surprise then that security practitioners in businesses of every size are getting rid of their legacy security solutions in favour of ones that offer true breach defense to stop the evasive and determined attacks we see today.

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EDITORIAL SECURITY SOLUTIONS oreover, the advanced, persistent attacks that are becoming commonplace are more effective than ever before, which is seeing businesses across the board scramble to secure their networks, which are changing at an equally rapid pace. This is creating serious challenges for security teams.

The antivirus solutions of a decade ago are woefully inadequate weapons in the fight against today’s complex threats. What organisations across the board need, is security that evolves along with networks.

Finally, the days when threats were basic and onedimensional, are long gone. Defenses need to adapt to be multidimensional too.”

One, single, cloud-based solution This is where breach defense solutions from Cisco come in. Cognitive Threat Analytics, for example, identifies attacks before they have a chance to exfiltrate sensitive business data. The solution analyses web traffic, network traffic from Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, and endpoint data from Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) for Endpoints, which offers endpoint protection platforms (EPP) and endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools capabilities in one, single, cloud-based solution.

Cognitive Threat Analytics then employs machine learning to identify malicious activity, needing no additional hardware or software. Today’s businesses need tools that offer advanced and modern capabilities, such as the ability to detect and investigate security incidents, as well as remediate endpoints rapidly. They need solutions that are relentless when it comes to preventing breaches and blocking malicious activity.

They need tools that quickly detect, contain and remediate advanced threats that slip through the nets of front-line defenses, and they need all of this in a range of solutions that are simple to deploy, and can leverage existing security investments to manage threats beyond the endpoint.

Using the right combination of security solutions helps to block threats before they target your business. Remember, the business’s ability to protect its endpoints relies on how effective the threat intelligence it receives is. In this way, tools that harness the power of machine learning and

Today’s businesses need tools that offer advanced and modern capabilities, such as the ability to detect and investigate security incidents, as well as remediate endpoints rapidly.”

automation to rapidly pinpoint any anomalous behaviours that might indicate malicious activity is crucial. Doing this prevents threats such as ransomware, file-less malware and other exploits are stopped in their tracks before they become an issue.

Crucial for the business to have a complete view of its endpoints The right solution simplifies the process of investigation and threat hunting through strong EDR capabilities that automate advanced queries across some or all of the company’s endpoints. Irrespective of whether the business is investigating as part of an incident response situation, or threat hunting, or even as an IT operations or vulnerability and compliance exercise, the solutions must get them the answers they need to protect the business going forward.

Even deeper visibility on what has occurred with any particular endpoint at any point in time is gained by taking a snapshot of the endpoint in question’s current state, so that security professionals can see exactly what activity was happening on the device during the time when the malicious activity was taking place.

Moreover, Cisco’s solutions monitor and analyse the behaviour of the company’s endpoints, on an ongoing basis, giving them information they need to investigate and respond to even the most severe threats rapidly and decisively. Consider this too, should any file that seemed to be clean upon initial inspection becomes an issue in the future, the solution can give you a complete history of the threat’s activity, to help you catch, isolate, contain and remediate at the very first hint that any malicious behaviour is taking place.

Finally, the days when threats were basic and onedimensional, are long gone. Defenses need to adapt to be multi-dimensional too. This is why Cisco built all its endpoint solutions to integrate with the rest of its security platform, to work together, and enable companies to handle the full gamut of security needs, from blocking and detecting, to investigating and responding. This makes security more effective and quicker, helping businesses get to the root of any security issues instantly, and stop threats before they become a problem. n

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27 23

OTTC CELEBRATING 27 YEARS

t

1992 - 2019 OTTC CELEBRATING 23 YEARS OF WORLD SKILLS PARTICIPATION

Isolde Dobelin

de

I ju

st

h e r e f r i g e r a ti o n

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et lo v

South Africa

24 YEARS WORLD SKILLS PARTICIPATION. 1995 - 2019

South Africa OTTC -OPEN TRADE TRAINING CENTRE GERMAN & SOUTH AFRICAN COMPANIES SUPPORTING OTTC, BUILDING PLANTS TO GERMAN STANDARDS. PARTNERSHIP WITHTRAINING (BIV) BUNDES INNUNG OTTC -OPEN TRADE CENTRE VERBAND /HANDWERKSKAMMER AND I-K-K-E OTTC is a leading practical training provider in Commercial and Industry Refrigeration, AirConditioning, Ammonia, Refrigeration, Heat-pump OTTC is a leading training provider in Commercial and Systems, Electrical Engineering and Controls for Industry Refrigeration, Air-Conditioning, Ammonia, R & AC and Transport Refrigeration since 1992.

Refrigeration, Heat-pump Systems, Electrical The OTTC training courses are designed Engineeringtoand Controls for Standards R & AC and and Transport according International Refrigerationrequirements since 1992. where 80 countries Worldskills Theagreed OTTC training are designedin have to test courses their competitors according to International Standards and Worldskills competition.

World - Gold 1995 toof2018 OTTC has won Skills the SA National in the Trade Refrigeration & AC competition 10 times and since then

their students have been chosen to times represent South of8 of Refrigeration & AC competition eight Africa in the International Worldskills Competition. and since then seven of their students have been OTTC takes pride in the company philosophy of chosen to represent South Africa in the International training excellence and has tailored its courses to Worldskills cover the Competition. entire spectrum of technical knowledge, OTTC takes pride the company of both practical andintheoretical, to philosophy achieve confident training excellence and has tailoredcombined its courseswith to the and informed decision-making cover the entire spectrum of technical knowledge, appropriate skills. requirements where 26 countries have agreed to test both practical and theoretical, to achieve confident THANK YOU TO ALL SPONSORS FOR OTTC WORLD SKILLS PARTICIPATION their competitors in competition. andAND informed decision-making combined with the OTTC has won the SA National Gold in the Trade appropriate skills.

Thanks to all the sponsors and supporters

THANK YOU TO ALL SPONSORS

REFRIGERATION CC

South Africa

‘Specialists in commercial refrigeration’ Tel: 011 794 3234 • Fax: 011 794 4662 Unit 1, Laserdowns Business Park, Johan Street, Honeydew PO Box 7946 Westgate 1734

REFRIGERATION CC

OTTC believes that the quality of training must be relevant and practical to prepare their learners for various situations encountered in the workplace.

South Africa

‘Specialists in commercial refrigeration’ Tel: 011 794 3234 • Fax: 011 794 4662 Unit 1, Laserdowns Business Park, Johan Street, Honeydew PO Box 7946 Westgate 1734

Heribert Baumeister, president of BIV with Isolde Dobelin from OTTC.

Worldskills International Competitions: Results From 1999 To 2017 TRADE 38 REFRIGERATION - All OTTC Participants Elektronische Regelungen GmbH

YEAR

HOSTING COUNTRY

RESULT FROM GOLD MEDAL

RESULT OTTC PARTICIPANT

ACHIVED % FROM GOLD MEDAL

1999

MONTREAL CANANDA

547

499 BURT BOUWER

91%

2005

FINLAND HELSINKI

542

441 JACOBUS KIES

81%

2007

JAPAN SHIZUOKA

548

459 IVAN THERON

84%

2009

CALGARY CANADA

549

475 NICOLAS BARKHUIZEN

87%

2011

ENGLAND LONDON

544

478 DE WET BRITZ

88%

Family Wolfgang and Christian Richter

2013

GERMANY LEIPZIG

2015

BRAZIL SÃO PAULO

535 537

2017

SAUDI ARABIA ABU DHABI

739

OTTC ammonia training plant. 360 successful completed OTTC amonia diploma holders.

Karsten Beerman of I-K-K-E vocational school (called Berufsschule).

Geoff Alder | 473 DYLAN LE MAITRE 88% Dris Fouche, Assessment | Hans Damhuise 469 MARKO COMBRINCK 87% 656 TYRONE BUNCE

89%

Geoff Alder | Dris Fouche, Assessment | Hans Damhuise

OTTC CO2 training plant.

OTTC trains their students to participate in the international World Skills competitions

Cooperation agreement between BIV and OTTC.

PO Box 14532, Dersley, Springs, 1569 | Tel/Fax No +27 11 816 2580 or +27 11 366 1219 Tyrone Bunce “2017 Worldskills Project Plant” completed in given time and Tyrone Bunce wiring the panel. mailto: ottctraining@icloud.com / idobelin@icloud.com | Website: http://www.ottc.co.za and http://www.ottc-training.center working according to given specification.

OTTC trains their students to participate in the international World Skills competitions PO Box 14532, Dersley, Springs, 1569 | Tel/Fax No +27 11 816 2580 or +27 11 366 1219 mailto: ottctraining@icloud.com / idobelin@icloud.com | Website: http://www.ottc.co.za and http://www.ottc-training.center

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1997

1999

2005

2007

2009

2011

2013

2015

.

2017 Abu Dhabi

Experts, competitors, translators, shop master & Festo representatives of the Skill 38 Refrigeration and Air Condition team. Tyron Bunce middle and Bob Vuletic last row with red sleeves.

Tyrone Bunce leaving for Abu Dhabi

Thank You John Ackermann, Rory Macnamara, Dr. Patel, Bob Vuletic, Peter Hoetmer, the OTTC Team and all the Sponsors.

All in all, the WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 which took place from 14 to 19 October gathered over 1,200 contestants from 59 countries.

This year, requirements were even more demanding than in 2015. For instance, 700 points in the individual competition were required for a Medallion of Excellence, as compared with 500 at the WorldSkills Brazil 2015. Nadezhda Kashtelyan, a graduate of Brest State College of Service Industry, won a medallion in the Hairdressing category. WorldSkills is the biggest vocational education and skills excellence event in the world, a sort of Olympics for aspiring workers and specialists. The international

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WorldSkills Competition is held every two years. Taking part in the event are young skilled workers, students of universities, lyceums, and vocational education institutions aged up to 22.

The WorldSkills movement is meant to promote blue-collar jobs in the modern society and increase their popularity among young people.

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EDITORIAL INCENTIVES

Driving increased revenue for your brand, your vendor & your business

By Traci Maynard, Microsoft Executive at Axiz

The importance of incentives in helping to increase sales should not be underestimated, as demonstrated by how the incentives in Microsoft’s CSP programme drive uniquely different behaviour.

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EDITORIAL INCENTIVES ne of the most tried and tested methods for driving a more positive sales outcome from an organisation is to offer some form of incentive to people to take the action the company requires. This has become one way to differentiate oneself from the competition, since offering something in return for the sale puts your business in a better position than the company that does not.

In fact, research firm Forrester has demonstrated that the automation of incentives helps to remove the ‘friction’ in the partner’s sales process and to streamline the lead to revenue processes.

If one looks at the 2017 study from the Incentive Federation, which measured the expenditure of US businesses using non-cash rewards for employees, customers and partners, overall incidences of channel reward programmes increased by some 57% in just three years. With figures like this, it makes me curious as to exactly what a version of this study would look like for the South African channel.

The study summarised that ‘award points, gifts cards, incentive travel and merchandise’ are the most commonly used tools for firms seeking to provide reward and recognition to employees, sales teams, channel partners and customers.

However, digital transformation is changing vendors’ approaches to such inducements. They all inevitably want to see a return on their investment in terms of a particular incentive – for example, a certain amount of sales were made prior to the incentive, while following it, sales doubled or tripled. The difficulty is that while this is easy in a physical world with physical goods, how are such incentive schemes measured in the world of the cloud?

Incentives from Microsoft are designed to drive a very different behaviour Understanding that the world itself is different, the incentives from Microsoft for its cloud offerings, via programmes such as Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), are also designed to drive a very different behaviour. What the vendor does is it encourages sales behaviour by incentivising partners for new customers added – in other words, end-customers – and Microsoft then sets a range of qualifying seats, such as 25 to 99, 100 to 299, and 300+ seats.

About Axiz

Research firm Forrester has demonstrated that the automation of incentives helps to remove the ‘friction’ in the partner’s sales process and to streamline the lead to revenue processes.”

Essentially, the incentives programme encourages partners to develop new ways of marketing their Microsoft offerings, such as through conference attendance, training programmes and new package offers. The beauty is that if you are a CSP partner actively participating as a reseller, you are eligible for the Microsoft Partner Incentives programme, and upon joining will be eligible for rebate and co-op earnings.

Microsoft partners who align sales motions with certain strategic priorities will see increased earning potential through the CSP Incentive Programme, Online Services Usage Incentive for Microsoft 365 Programme, and Azure Incentive Programme. The specific priorities outlined include: adding new customers; selling the value of premium workloads; migrating Microsoft Azure to the Modern Commerce platform; and driving usage and consumption of online services.

A key part of Microsoft’s focus is to empower people and organisations across the world to achieve more and focus on these four priorities, as each of them are central to the partner investment and incentives programme’s core objective.

The aim is to not only help you provide the level of service your customers expect, but to directly connect that level of service to the financial incentives that can help your business grow. These partner incentives power the technical and workplace innovations needed to expand your business and shape your customers’ digital transformation journeys. The programmes also cover a wide spectrum of business objectives, so whether you are driving consumption or bringing new customers into the fold, there are options tailored to support your efforts and reward your success. n

Axiz is a value-added ICT distributor who aims to be the best and most successful in the region by contributing to the growth and profitability of its shareholders, staff, vendors, channel partners and their customers. Axiz’s mission is to create value through excellent service, incremental efficiency realisation, demand generation, relevant skills and access to markets. Axiz provide offerings to its resellers which include its vendor relationships, relevant skills, access to credit, training and business development. It focuses culture on respect for its diversity and aspirations of all stakeholders and commitment to ongoing innovation of its offerings.

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Accountants You Can Trust

We’ve been specializing in tax preparation and accounting services throughout the Kuruman area in the Northern Cape province since 2014. In addition to our certified accounting training, we have the skills, knowledge and determination necessary to handle all your accounting needs. We are ready to tackle any challenges and begin our role as your trusted tax practitioners and business accountants.

Our headquarters is in Kuruman.

Tax Financial Statements Preparation and Analysis

Tel: +27 (0)53 712 0625 • WhatsApp: 079 445 1712 • Email: wagaeo@pilarasolutions.com www.pilarasolutions.com

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PROFILE PILARA SOLUTIONS

Olebogeng Wagae, Founder of Pilara Solutions 120

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PROFILE PILARA SOLUTIONS

Tax solutions for start-ups and SMEs South Africa is a developing country with a lot of potential for SMEs to expand and play an integral role in achieving one of the best macro-economic climates in the world. Start-ups and existing small and medium businesses in South Africa are still lagging behind in terms of getting the best services, at the right price, and at the best possible time. It is for this reason that Pilara Solutions exists.

I

t is a requirement for any business in South Africa to be incorporated and to operate in compliance with the Companies Act 78 of 2008. This places a further obligation on the business owner to be compliant with SARS legislation and processes that can become a burden on start-ups and existing SMEs. Growing companies are often put off by the idea of spending a great deal of time training an individual to manage these responsibilities. Pilara Solutions fits the needs of these businesses and individuals as tax services are at the core of what it does.

Pilara Solutions, established in 2014 by Olebogeng Wagae, is a tax services firm which provides tax services, business and cost consulting services, accounting and payroll software sales and added services. Pilara solutions serves small businesses in South African communities in various industries.

The company does not exist to compete, but positions its services very carefully so that they are of extremely high quality, relevant, timely and accurate. These services are tailored to the clients’ needs so as to enable them to make the right decisions, in turn leading towards the growth of their companies and benefitting the overall economy.

Pilara Solutions sets out to narrow its target market to strategic sectors, namely, farming and mining businesses.

It always strive for excellence in all aspects of business on its journey to become the most responsible corporate citizen in Northern Cape and South Africa.

Services offered by Pilara Solutions include:

Accounting services: • Cost and margin analysis • Financial projections and modelling • Financial statement preparations

Bookkeeping services: • Payroll processing • Accounts payable (entry, bill paying) • Accounts receivable (entry, invoicing, deposits, collection) • Sales tax processing • Bank reconciliations • Inventory management

Secretarial services: • Companies and Intellectual Property Commission services, eg. company registrations, annual returns, company name changes, etc.

Tax services: • Tax preparation (returns for both individuals and companies) • Tax clearance certificates/pins • Tax registrations (Individuals and companies) • Addressing tax problems (audit representation, back taxes owed, SARS issues) • VAT management • PAYE management Pilara Solutions strives to be a company that can answer difficult questions facing our economy in South Africa, while providing: • the best products with the greatest service possible • proactive and prudent advice combined with recommendations targeted toward helping businesses and individuals to better understand their financial needs and status, and • our clients with an experienced personal contact.

The company aims to deliver high-quality solutions that enable companies to meet their business goals more effectively. It is Pilara Solutions’ mission to improve and enhance the lives of those whom the company touches, by leveraging professional competence and by being relevant to all who are impacted. n

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ADVERTORIAL BERACA ACCOUNTANTS & AUDITORS

Multi-discipline audit firm offers high level of quality and assurance Beraca Accountants and Auditors is a multi-discipline audit firm that was established in 1999 and has offices in Secunda, Sandton and Cape Town.

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he managing partner is CJ Stokes, a registered auditor with the Independent Regulatory Body for Auditors and a chartered accountant registered at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).

He is also a registered member of the South African Institute of Tax Practitioners.

Stokes has significant knowledge of the current challenges facing the business environment as he is representative at various committees, including committees at SAICA. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Highveld District Committee at SAICA. Beraca Accountants and Auditors is your one-stop service provider for accounting, auditing, consulting, statutory and secretarial inquiries, for individual as well as all business entities. Clients include listed entities and their subsidiaries, multinational corporations, non-profit entities including schools, private and public companies, as well as the general public.

Beraca Accountants and Auditors’ philosophy is to engage with its clients to assist them in decoding the complexities that they may face, develop a solution fit for business and assist them to implement and execute it.

Services include: Audit As registered auditors, Beraca Accountants and Auditors provide many levels of audit services, including reviews, compilations and agreed upon services. It also provides assurance to clients on their reporting about the financial performance of their operations. Clients are also assisted in adhering to regulatory requirements as part of the company’s wide range of attest and attest-related services.

‘Our transparent and consistent approach enables us to build confidence and trust with our clients, as they rely on us to assist them to manage their operations with integrity and report accordingly within the current regulatory environment,’ says Stokes.

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Accounting Beraca Accountants and Auditors’ range of business accounting and business tax services allow it to attend to all of the regulatory reporting and lodgment requirements of a business. In addition to that, a dedicated accountant, supported by Beraca’s entire accounting team, can conduct regular reviews and analysis to provide the client with sound accounting advice and strategies which may assist the client to significantly improve their accounting practices and procedures.

‘This proactive approach ensures that any potential accounting opportunities for the business are promptly identified and are able to be appropriately leveraged to gain maximum results for your business,’ Stokes explains.

‘We can also assist you to maximise your wealth by legally minimising your tax, as well as integrating financial planning advice and assisting with budgeting advice and expense control,’ he adds.

Tax consulting services As independent tax consultants, Beraca assists business, individuals and organisations with tax strategy, planning and compliance on a local and nationwide basis.

‘Ongoing reforms in the tax regulatory environment and improvement in the tax collection ability of revenue authorities have elevated the tax function from a compliance issue to a business risk – a risk that could have a material impact on the results of a business or a specific transaction,’ Stokes comments.

‘We are also an associated member of the CORE group, whereby we can assist with financial solutions, BB-BEE consulting, secretarial services, training for executive teams, business development, trust and estate services and cloud accounting, to name a few of our specialities,’ he adds.

‘We believe that we are small enough to be nimble and effective, yet big enough to support any size entity with professional advice that is affordable and of a high level of quality and assurance.’ n

Beraca Accountants and Auditors W www.beraca.co.za

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The accounting and audit firm where the future of accounting is NOW. We are your multi-discipline service provider of choice for all your accounting, auditing, consulting, statutory and secretarial needs from a corporate to a non-profit to the individual.

We are small enough to be nimble and efficient, whilst big enough to support any size entity with professional advice that is affordable and at a high level of quality and assurance.

Century City Cape Town

Bekker Street Trichardt

West Tower, 2nd Floor Nelson Mandela Square Maude Street Sandown Johannesburg

Coen Stokes

Managing Partner

T: +27 (0) 17 638 0165 F: +27 (0) 17 638 0166 E: coen@beraca.co.za

www.beraca.co.za

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EDITORIAL AN ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY

Curiosity & tenacity makes this business owner no ‘roll-over’ Christine Marven, owner of Marven Equipment

A willingness to break stereotypes and relentless curiosity are a couple of the key attributes that help to make a business owner successful. This is according to Arnold February, Regional Investment Manager at Business Partners Limited – one of Africa’s leading business loan and equity providers and 2019 Gold winner: SME Bank of the Year (Africa) – who points to their client, Christine Geldart, as a great example of this.

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s the owner of Marven Equipment – a manufacturer of vehicle equipment, accessories and apparatus – Geldart has held her own in a male-dominated industry, having grown her company to one of South Africa’s top metal vehicle equipment manufacturers. This is mostly due to her insatiable curiosity about science, the world, and how things work; coupled with a restless energy which she claims to have inherited from her father,’ says February.

Today, the 52-year-old business owner runs a 2 100m2 factory in Benoni, which employs 46 workers and boasts state-of-the-art metal vehicle equipment. Geldart studied IT at the then Wits Tech and went on to work in the corporate world as a data capturer. She gained experience working at the likes of Toyota SA and Ford, leading many IT teams and specialising in enterprise resource planning and material requirement planning applications – a skill which later proved useful for her own company.

It was due to her inborn restlessness that Geldart decided to join her husband’s catering equipment manufacturing company in 2004.

‘I jumped at the opportunity to do my own thing, and I found the freedom of entrepreneurship exhilarating,’ she recalls.

Innovation in bakkie canopy, protective roll bar manufacture Soon, Geldart was running her own bakkie canopymaking business to complement her husband’s business, starting with just one employee and some rudimentary welding and grinding equipment.

Learning everything she could about metal manufacturing materials and techniques, it wasn’t long before Geldart started innovating - introducing square canopy designs which proved much stronger than the rounded canopies that were on the market at the time. She targeted large corporate fleet managers and soon they were building work stations and specialised canopies for fleets of bakkies.

She gained experience working at the likes of Toyota SA and Ford, leading many IT teams and specialising in enterprise resource planning and material requirement planning applications – a skill which later proved useful for her own company.”

EDITORIAL AN ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY

Ever the tenacious business owner, Geldart’s current goals for the company are to build specialised bodies for working vehicles and to convince the minibus taxi industry to adopt the Ndlovu design, which could potentially save many lives.”

A further opportunity presented itself in 2007, when a new law required mine vehicles to install protective roll bars and reinforcement against falling objects. Fending off a major international competitor who was ready to sell their existing systems to the local mines, Geldart built no fewer than nine prototypes before building a stronger, more lightweight product – the Ndlovu range.

‘One of the highlights of my career was when I presented my rollover protection structures to the board of BHP Billiton – as one of only three women in a hair-raising meeting of more than 40 men - and came out on top,’ she says. By 2010, all the big mining companies had approved Marven Equipment’s new Ndlovu design, and the orders came streaming in.

Business/Partners steps in However, double tragedy struck when Geldart was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, and a SARS audit on her business just a year later resulted in a large tax bill. While other business owners may have been discouraged, Geldart endured. Having no luck with the banks, she decided to approach Business Partners Limited to assist with financing the tax shortfall; which they agreed to.

‘What is great about Business/Partners is their mentorship. They don’t just support you financially and leave you alone, and they are not in your face all the time either,’ says Geldart, who is also making use of Business/Partners’ technical assistance facility the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), where the company links business owners with expert consultants to help diagnose their business challenge and provide customised solutions. Geldart is using the facility to gain ISO accreditation for Marven Equipment.

Ever the tenacious business owner, Geldart’s current goals for the company are to build specialised bodies for working vehicles and to convince the minibus taxi industry to adopt the Ndlovu design, which could potentially save many lives.

Even as she spends some time away from her business to regain her health, Geldart’s strong team – which includes her daughter – continues to manage the business and keep things moving forward. n

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PROFILE PURE CORP

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Too busy to spa?

Pure Corp’s got you sorted!

More and more corporates are making the health and wellness of their employees a priority. Masego Kungwane saw the gap and now offers corporate employees the luxury of a certified massage therapist at work.

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PROFILE PURE CORP

he 27-year old Kungwane has a business mind of note and big corporates definitely don’t scare her. In fact, she has secured some of the country’s biggest corporates and clients already, massaging away their employees’ worries without them having to leave the office. All of that while still studying for her LLB through UNISA- something she believes will only benefit her newly founded company in the long run.

Pure Corp provides massage services to insurance companies, banks and other large corporates, including WesBank, RMB, King Price Insurance, and Outsurance, to name a few.

‘I’ve worked in the insurance industry before and I would go for a massage every month because of the stress,’ says Kungwane. ‘There’s a huge gap in the market for something like this.’

Pure Corp was recently called out to provide massage therapy to 290 corporate employees in one day. With the help of freelance therapists and students from the beauty industry, Kungwane made it possible.

Pure Corp’s mobile spa is not limited to corporates and Kungwane plans to branch out to schools and charities during September this year. The company currently consists of six permanent therapists, all with experience in the spa industry, with Kungwane often lending a helping hand to assist with the treatments.

‘Oprah Winfrey said that she wished she had started her career earlier in life. Maybe if she had started earlier, she would have been further than where she is now,’ says Kungwane. She feels that it is very important to start at a young age. ‘Entrepreneurs are risk takers. You just start something without knowing where it’s going. As long as you see a bit of light, that’s a sign that you know what you’re doing,’ she says.

Pure Corp initially started out with its main focus on Balinese scalp massages- an amazing head, neck and shoulder massage that has its origins in the Far East. It is also a treatment suitable for corporates, as it focuses on the tension in employees’ backs and necks. These massages are given to employees while they are on duty, so there’s no need to worry about a decrease in productivity levels. An average massage per employee normally takes about five to ten minutes, depending on the company’s request. Pure Corp do, however, have other treatments in the pipeline, including Swedish massages, sports therapies and more.

Investing in a monthly 10-minute massage for your employees might not be such a bad idea. In fact, it might just increase productivity. n

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SENTECH Brings You SENTECH CONNECT In keeping abreast with rapid changes in the information and cyber physical society, SENTECH CONNECT is transforming citizens lives through intelligence connectivity tailored for all sectors in rural and underserviced areas.

SENTECH CONNECT provides high speed broadband access and always-on Internet connection for government facilities.

Our broadband provides a platform for e-health, e-learning and e-government services.

We offer reliable, fast and high-speed broadband connectivity thereby bridging the digital divide.

For further information on our service, get in touch: Call Centre: 0860 736 832 WhatsApp: 072 196 8368 Email: support@sentech.co.za www.sentech.co.za

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