‘Uti’s BEE philosophy predated legislation’

Industry should look at Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) as a supply chain on its own, says Tony d’Almeida, director of B-BBEE, industry and diversity and employment equity with UTi. “Basically it boils down to all elements within the charter working together to improve the business landscape – companies will have difficulty complying if they do not have the right attitude,” he says, “and this depends on the vision of the company which in turn depends on the skill availability of its people to deliver. It is all interconnected.” Currently a Level 3 Broad-Based BEE enterprise, it had already put in place the B-BBEE solutions – UE Trust and Enterprise development – before BBBEE was legislated in 1996. “The company had already formed the UTi Education Trust, which currently holds a 25% stake in UTi SA, in partnership with Pyramid Freight,” says D’Almeida. “Once legislation came into effect, UTi SA had to minimally change the UET structure in order to comply with the new codes.” According to D’Almeida black economic empowerment is part of the company’s philosophy. “We have put in a lot of effort into providing guidance to the industry in terms of the BBBEE codes and the spirit of compliance of what this value system represents.” To this end UTi has made major strides in the development of industry standards and seconded its senior manager to be a delegate at the negotiations facilitated by the Department of Transport to develop a significant Forward Clearing Road Freight B-BBEE industry charter. “This charter has since been legislated and will eventually be used by industry players to audit their B-BBEE standards as opposed to using the generic charter that was previously used,” says D’Almeida. He believes part and parcel of the success of B-BBEE is buy-in from top management. “Top senior management must be on board for implementation of B-BBEE. Our clients again get the benefit of dealing with a B-BBEE supplier and it improves their rating from a procurement perspective.”