THE SECTORS: FORESTRY
KEY SECTOR PLAYERS COMMIT TO B-BBEE IMPLEMENTATION DESPITE AN ONSLAUGHT OF CHALLENGES BY AURELIA MBOKAZI-KASHE
FORESTRY LEVEL 4 % of target achieved
Target
Forestry
123,7
140,00 120,00
67,6
50,7
60,00
72,0
80,00
72,1
100,00
40,00 20,00 Black Ownership: Equity Ownership
Management and Control
The forestry sector is critical to South Africa’s economic growth and long-term transformation. It has been undergoing a steady transition, managing to almost treble its export earnings in a decade. It now contributes 25% of agricultural GDP and is responsible for an estimated 700,000 jobs. Not withholding its importance, its transformation has been sluggish. This year the Sanlam Gauge survey incorporated 73 forestry companies, up from only 13 last year, to present a fuller picture of the sector’s transformation. With an average of 87.46 recognition points it is on level 4.
48
Skills Development
Enterprise and Supplier Development
SocioEconomic Development
Having achieved 72.1% of the ownership target, it is ahead of agriculture, construction and property. In management control it is third worst with 50.7% while for skills development it achieves 72% of target; 67.6% for ESD and 123% for socioeconomic development. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the forestry sector had already been struggling and was flagged as an underperforming sector by the B-BBEE Commission in its 2020 annual report. As forestry companies began picking up the pieces from the devastating effects of the pandemic, they reimagined their transformational strategies and focused on saving jobs. But this change in strategy resulted in a significant decline in the number of companies that filed their B- BBEE scorecard reports.
