Staff Writer - 01 April 2023 New technologies such as ChatGPT are making professionals nervous, and it is up to job seekers to best prepare themselves. Micheal Hanly, the managing director of online learning provider New Leaf Technologies, said that there are learnable skills that people can equip themselves for in the ‘new world’. “The rapid speed at which technology is advancing can be terrifying for many people, as just as they have become used to a certain way of doing things, they need to be retrained.” “Professionals are suddenly questioning whether they are even needed anymore or whether they might be retrenched,” said Hanly. Hanly said some of the most notable high-demand skills required to get ahead of technology include: Digital literacy: As more businesses move online and remote work becomes increasingly common, digital literacy is becoming a fundamental skill. This includes proficiency in basic computer skills as well as more advanced knowledge of software, data analytics and cybersecurity. Leadership and management: Leaders need to navigate complex business environments, motivate teams and drive innovation. Creativity and innovation: These are essential for companies looking to stay ahead of the curve. Emotional intelligence: Emotional intelligence (EQ) helps workers at all levels communicate effectively, manage stress and build strong relationships. Cultural competence: Understanding different cultural norms and values and being able to work effectively with people from different backgrounds is crucial in South Africa. Data analysis: There is an increasing demand for professionals who can analyze and interpret large volumes of data to inform business decisions. Communication skills: This includes not only written and verbal communication but also the ability to listen actively and work collaboratively with others. Critical thinking and problem-solving: Analyzing information, identifying patterns and trends, and developing creative solutions to complex problems are a must these days. Hanly said these skills would likely remain in high demand for the foreseeable future, and businesses should invest in learning and development programmes for their employees. “These programmes should be designed to meet the specific needs of the learners and should include a variety of learning methods, such as classroom-based training, online learning and on-the-job training,” he said. E-learning platforms can now be introduced into a company with the aim of upskilling in-house employees. Hanly said that e-learning platforms are very well at meeting the demands of the skills gap in South Africa. Even large banks are looking to upskill their employees. Capitec said that poor digital literacy is hampering businesses. It is essential that a workforce also has the freedom to self-upskill beyond traditional methods, said the bank. According to Capitec, the significance of data in the digital economy should not be underestimated by businesses. It further said that the responsibility of managing data is no longer restricted to data scientists only, as it now involves every member of an organization. https://businesstech.co.za/news/trending/676477/new-skills-south-africans-need-to-survive-the-future-of-work/ ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’

Ravi Naidoo - 31 March 2023 File image. Johannesburg - Four years ago, the Youth Employment Service (Yes) was created by the private sector as an important contribution to addressing South Africa’s crippling youth unemployment crisis. Youth unemployment, a crisis of history, education, and low economic growth has left two in three youth jobless. This month, Yes passed the 100 000 youth jobs milestone, making it the largest scale job creation programme that is entirely funded by the private sector. That’s worth celebrating, for many reasons. For a start, we haven’t just created 100 000 jobs. We’ve given 100 000 young people the skills, work experience, and social networks they need to contribute to the economy for the next 40 years and beyond. We’ve created jobs with impact that will act as a catalyst to create more employment inside and outside their current job sectors. It is these future professionals, entrepreneurs and change-makers who will drive our economic prosperity in the years to come. The impact on social mobility is considerable. 61% of Yes Youth come from social grant-recipient households and 77% have dependants. Right now, South Africa ranks 77th out of 82 countries on the WEF’s Global Social Mobility Index 2020, which reflects the ability of a child to experience a better life than their parents. Without access to programmes such as Yes, it will take nine generations for a person born into poverty to reach the middle-class. Better social mobility means we can build a broader economic base for a sustainable future. However, given the low rates of economic growth, South Africa is currently producing neither the volume nor type of jobs required to reverse the current unemployment trend. Currently, more than 400 000 new job-seekers enter the market every year, but the country has only created around an average of 150 000 net jobs per year since over the past 10 years. On its own, no special programme can directly generate enough youth jobs to compensate for the lack of economic growth. However, if programmes are catalytic in their structure, they can have a longer-term multiplier effect that far exceeds the direct jobs created. If we get as many of our talented youth as possible into meaningful roles in the economy, they will be able to generate the jobs and future-facing businesses that South Africa so desperately needs. This can be done through unleashing the potential of the country’s youth by creating a talent pipeline for young people from poor households to enter the economy. In other words, putting our best young talent to work is the key to future economic success. According to the International Labour Office’s G20 Skills Strategy, the development of higher-level skills – professional, technical and human resource skills – enables workers to profit from or create opportunities for high-quality and/or high-wage jobs. And Research by UK-based think-tank Centre for Cities suggests that for every 10 jobs created in skilled businesses, and in particular high-tech businesses, up to 25 jobs are created in local services. In the past 12 months, Yes put around 30 000 young people into pathways that will lead them to becoming game-changers in the public and private sectors. Yes research shows that 40% of alumni are currently employed, and 15% of all Yes Youth are involved in entrepreneurial activity. The phenomenon of youth going into entrepreneurial activities is particularly interesting. Take 25-year-old Chulumanco Lonwabo Nomtyala, who completed his Yes programme through the Microsoft Development Pathway. With a degree in Human Settlement Development, he saw an opportunity to help people with housing subsidy applications and designed an App that helps people apply for housing subsidies. As Stats SA points out, prior work experience, particularly quality experience that provides social networks, makes a huge difference to your economic prospects. In fact, prior work experience makes you seven times more likely to transition into full-time employment. Kgomotso Sekhu, 29, was the first in her family to get a degree – a BSc in Mathematics at the University of Pretoria. But she couldn’t find a job. Today, she’s a business intelligence analyst, thanks to her Yes programme that was sponsored by Nedbank. To date, many of the Yes jobs are being created in future-facing industries such as drones, tech/ICT, creative, tourism, coding, and finance. Mawanda Faniso, 31, was part of the first Yes Drone Academy programme at the Genesis Hub in Saldanha in 2021, which saw a 100% absorption rate post-training. He left the academy with a remote pilot’s licence (RPL), which allows him to fly, fix and work on drones. He’s not only employed, but there’s a real demand for his services. There are millions of Mawandas, Kgomotsos and Lonwabos out there. And, typically, they need three things to get the big break in life. One is the right attitude: resilience, an eagerness to learn, a passion to better themselves and their circumstances. Two is the right support – in this case, from the 1 400 corporates who support the Yes programme, and the support the programme provides. And three, as we all know very well, is the right amount of luck (say, for instance, government introducing policies that boost economic growth). Imagine if, within the next 10 years, even 10% of our Yes Alumni go on to become successful professionals or entrepreneurs, then we are looking at a massive job and economic impact. If our youth have hope in their eyes, and not despair. If we are going to move the dial on unemployment in our lifetime, we must focus less on low-impact and temporary jobs and look to create the next 100 000 young game-changers in the economy. Now that’s something to get the whole country celebrating. https://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/its-time-to-let-the-youth-be-the-game-changers-south-africa-needs-ea9666c8-e562-4e29-a9aa-b58e099f8dd1 'Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’

Ina Opperman - 01 April 2023 Image: iStock The development of small business in South Africa is extremely important as small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of economic development in emerging markets such as India, South Africa, Kenya and Colombia, where these enterprises contribute up to 40% of national gross domestic product. SMEs in these nations developed at different speeds during recent years, with countries such as Brazil joining economic powerhouses like the UK and America in topping the list of countries with the largest new business growth. “These inspiring examples are key learning opportunities for South African small businesses,” says Mark Paper, chief operation officer at Business Partners Limited. The three-pronged approach to sector development Paper uses the success of India’s IT industry as an example of how strategic positioning and long-term planning can reap huge dividends for the country and its people. During the early 1990s, India experienced a ‘brain drain’ in its fledgling IT industry, with local talent emigrating to other markets. This loss of key talent served as a prompt for key decision-makers to boost investment into building new capacities. For India, an intervention at school-level education was identified as a possible solution. Therefore, government poured resources into encouraging young children to pursue careers in IT and technology-related fields. Today, India is a global technology hub, producing between 600 000 and 800 000 tertiary IT graduates per year, according to Bombay-listed software and services giant, Zensar Technologies. “India’s success in this arena cannot be attributed to the state acting alone but rather to the collaborative efforts of multiple stakeholders in civil society, education, training and development, career development and the corporate realm.” He says true impact for small business development requires the cooperation and collaboration of the golden tripartite: the public sector, the private sector and the South African public. “Our country is well-positioned to follow India’s lead, albeit in the broader context of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), but more investment needs to flow in from multiple directions.” State-led interventions to encourage education-driven initiatives are important, he says, but points out that the private sector must employ these graduates at scale. “This also needs the backing of civil society, which plays a crucial role as the parents and caregivers of young talent in promoting STEM education and equipping young people with the tools they need to succeed in these areas.” https://www.citizen.co.za/business/boost-development-of-small-business-sa/ ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’

By Ntando Thukwana - 01 April 2023 Picture: iStock/Rich Townsend The deal will see 7% of Absa’s shareholding distributed to black employees. Banking group Absa has finalised a R11.2 billion empowerment deal that will see 7% of its shares in the hands of its black employees. Absa’s empowerment deal The bank said that after the transaction, which remains subject to shareholder approval and effectively increases black ownership, Absa’s black ownership will exceed the 25% threshold set out in the Financial Sector Charter. “Notwithstanding Absa’s current Level 1 broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) rating, Absa’s current Black equity ownership per the B-BBEE scorecard in respect of the 2022 financial year is 17.44%. Following the implementation of the proposed B-BBEE transaction, Absa expects to increase its Black equity ownership to be sustainably above 25%,” Absa said. Diversity and inclusion Arrie Rautenbach, Absa group CEO, said the deal firmly demonstrates the bank’s commitment to broad-based black economic empowerment, which is critical in fostering a diverse and inclusive South African organisation. “The transaction is the next big step in our broader transformation journey and, at the same time, recognises the role that our staff and communities play by giving them the opportunity to benefit from the value generated by the group,” Rautenbach said. Empowering communities The transaction comprises a Corporate Social Investment (CSI) trust which will also benefit black communities who will indirectly own a 4% shareholding. A staff trust will indirectly hold 3% of the Absa Group, collectively constituting the 7% representing Absa’s group shareholding, the bank said. A further equivalent of approximately 1% of Absa’s group shareholding will be made available to staff employed by subsidiaries in other markets, it added. “Although primarily designed to achieve our black economic empowerment and transformation objectives, it was also important for us to ensure that a portion of the benefit will be used to empower communities through education and youth employability initiatives,” said Rautenbach. He further said the deal signals a substantial milestone in the company’s efforts to empower communities. “We believe that staff will also be incentivised in a way that promotes engagement and our espoused culture objectives,” he said. https://www.citizen.co.za/business/absa-finalises-empowerment-deal-april-2023/ 'Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’

Sune Payne | 29 March 2023 Image: Getty Images | NSF logo The troubled fund – meant to focus on the education and training of learners – returned to Parliament to account for issues such as governance, management and a forensic report. During a parliamentary committee meeting about the National Skills Fund (NSF) on Wednesday, DA MP Chantel King said a lot of development had taken place at the fund, which she described as “very good”. Representatives of the fund and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) briefed Parliament’s oversight committee on higher education on the implementation of an audit action plan and recommendations from a ministerial task team on the NSF. The fund – which is primarily focused on the training and education of learners – made headlines in 2022 when reports emerged that R5-billion was missing from it. Higher Education Minister Dr Blade Nzimande confirmed that just under “R5-billion could not be properly accounted for over two financial years”. This prompted a forensic investigation into the NSF’s financial affairs. On Wednesday, issues came up again during a scheduled virtual session. Consequence management According to David Mabusela, the fund’s acting CEO, a committee was established to look into the recommendations of the ministerial task team, which was put in place to get to the bottom of the fund’s governance and administrative problems. Officials who were implicated in a forensic report – which was not submitted to Parliament after Nzimande said it contained the names of implicated persons, which could lead to possible litigation against the department – have faced disciplinary measures. Mabusela added that five NSF officials implicated in the forensic report were placed on precautionary suspension and later served with charge sheets. Implicated officials have responded to the charge sheets, some using their own legal services support. The Nexus forensic firm, which is carrying out the forensic investigation, has conducted inspections, and disciplinary sessions will start before the end of March 2023, confirmed Mabusela. In addition to the work done by the department, the DHET’s director-general, Nkosinathi Sishi, has had meetings with the Special Investigating Unit, with the last meeting on 14 February, where the scope of engagement on the NSF was discussed. There were also meetings with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation – the first one took place on 8 December 2022. More hirings During the briefing, the committee heard the fund would implement action plans based on audit findings from the Auditor-General in the NSF 2020/2021 Annual Report and Financial Statements. At the time, the NSF was spotlighted for having a 60% vacancy rate among senior management and a slow recruitment process. In 2021/22, the NSF filled 35 of 69 posts. Senior management posts that have been filled or are in the process of being filled include: A chief financial officer was appointed and started on 1 November 2022; A director of fund management was appointed and started on 1 October 2022; A director of information communication and technology was appointed and started on 3 January 2023; A director of financial planning and reporting had interviews scheduled before the end of March 2023; and Advertisements have been sent out for directors of financial administration, organisational strategy and work-integrated learning. Sishi said “interviews are scheduled” for a chief executive officer. He said he was “touched” by King’s comments and that he knew the committee would hold the NSF accountable for its actions, whether they were good or bad. In his State of the Nation Address in February, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the skills fund will “provide R800-million to develop skills in the digital and technology sector through an innovative model that links payment for training to employment outcomes”. The forensic report has not yet been made public. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-03-29-troubled-national-skills-fund-draws-praise-from-da-mp/

SA News | 30 March 2023 The use of technology commercialisation can contribute to economic transformation through the introduction of diverse new products and services in the market. This is according to Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Fikile Majola who was addressing the Fourth Intellectual Property and Technology Commercialisation Colloquium on Wednesday at the North-West University. Majola said a well-designed and well-performing intellectual property regime could improve the innovative capacity and competitiveness of the economy. “Intellectual property is one of the key interests in the quest for growth, development and competitiveness in the digital world. “Advancement in knowledge as broadly conceived is a key driver of economic prosperity in the twenty-first century. The linkage of intellectual property and economic development contributes to international economic integration and more rapid innovation,” Majola said. The Deputy Minister said the country must move towards the creation of a new economic environment in which the management of knowledge plays an essential part in the creation of wealth and sustainable jobs. He said South Africa needs to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution as part of the ongoing economic recovery plan and to advance the industrialisation agenda. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) and the Department of Science and Innovation co-developed the National Technology Commercialisation Strategy (NTCS) with the intention to accelerate commercialisation of locally developed novel technologies within South Africa and in foreign markets. This can ultimately result in the creation of new products, as well as the establishment of new businesses and industries, which can serve as a base for a full-scale localisation and industrialisation. Majola indicated that it was important for policymakers to ensure that practices and policies targeting improvements in the regime were consistent with and integrated into a larger effort to improve policies. “I am made aware that the dtic and the North-West University are in the process of concluding a Memorandum of Understanding that outlines strategic areas of collaboration. “These are inclusive of regular training and awareness raising on the importance of intellectual property protection and commercialisation. I am happy that among the areas of focus, this Memorandum of Understanding will also include the development of production capacity for small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs),” the Deputy Minister said. The Deputy Vice Chancellor of the North-West University, Professor Jeffry Mphahlele, announced that towards the end of 2022, the university received news from NIMPO based on the second survey of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer. The survey employed specific indicators that government and its stakeholders use to measure the capacity, outputs, targeted outcomes and ultimately impact of publicity funded research and development. “It was a huge honour and great pleasure for the NWU to be ranked amongst the top three revenue earners amongst higher education institutions for 2012 and 2017 and top five revenue for 2018. The recognition affirms the cutting-edge research and innovation capacity at NWU and the fact that NWU is a leader in IP creation and commercialisation,” Professor Mphahlele said. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/transforming-economy-through-innovation

Editor | 29 March 2023 To continue celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD), Uber hosted an event for women drivers in Nairobi to launch GigSister, a community based initiative to empower women drivers and delivery people on Uber. GigSister, created by Women at Uber, is designed to connect, grow, and empower a community of women drivers and couriers on the platform through an array of initiatives. The program, which has already achieved success in parts of Europe and the UK, sees Uber teaming up with like-minded partners, including Google and L’Oreal, to uplift and empower women through mental health support, motivation and self-promotion, as well as self-defence training. As part of the GigSister initiative, Uber has teamed up with Google to host a series of #iamRemarkable training for women earners. The training is designed to equip the earners with leadership tools they can use to position themselves for success in running their businesses. With the gender gap in ICT in Africa being at 23%, the African Union strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment aims to enable women and girls to become more active users and influencers of the technological space. The aim is for women to unlock greater gender enabling e-solutions for funding. This is the motivation behind Uber launching the GigSister initiative, to ensure that they are bridging this gap for women earners on the platform. Speaking at the event, Uber’s Head of Communications East, and West Africa Lorraine Onduru commented, “We are so happy and proud to launch this initiative to help eliminate barriers for women in the gig economy. We want to support women, provide them with a platform to network, and make them feel empowered to get into the tech space, and make a living out of it.” Dorothy Ooko Head of Communications & Public Affairs, Africa at Google added, “We are pleased to partner with Uber to roll out the #IAmRemarkable training which will help more women celebrate their achievements in the workplace and thrive in their businesses in the tech space. We believe this is a step in the right direction to ensure that women are equally equipped with the information, support and opportunities they need. Uber joins over 1000 companies that have implemented #IAmRemarkable in their organisations to empower the women drivers and couriers and drive allyship.” ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.africa.com/uber-announces-community-empowerment-initiative-for-women-earners-on-its-platform/

Jeremy Maggs | 30 March 2023 Picture: 123RF/ROMAN MOTIZOV New proposals are aimed at achieving a substantial change in the racial composition of ownership and management. Continuing lack of access to market share and capital is one of the key motivations behind new proposals put forward by the marketing, advertising and communication (MAC) charter sector code that is out for public comment. The code affects the BEE scores of agencies that form part of the R30bn sector. According to research by the Sanlam Gauge, the BEE Commission and the Interactive Advertising Bureau South Africa that was presented to parliament, transformation targets set out in the 2016 sector code were “minimal and easily achieved”. The MAC council is made up of a number of industry bodies, including the Association for Communication & Advertising, the Marketing Association of South Africa, the Advertising Regulatory Board and the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa. Several key proposals have been made, including those relating to voting rights by black people in the entity being raised to 75% from the current 50% to achieve five scorecard points. Additionally, voting rights by black women in the entity are raised to 51% from a current 15% to achieve three points. In the preamble to the proposal, the MAC council says a limited number of medium-sized businesses — let alone large businesses — are owned and controlled by black people in the sector. The document says most black entrepreneurs have indicated that access to market and capital has been the main challenge in acquiring equity in businesses or start-ups. The new proposals are aimed at achieving a substantial change in the racial composition of ownership and management, increasing effective economic participation for black-owned and black-managed enterprises and advancing the meaningful participation of black people in the mainstream economy. It’s also proposed that economic interest in an entity to which black people are entitled be raised to 51% from 30% to achieve four points and to 40% from a current 15% to be awarded three points. There are proposals that relate to supplier development, for example that broad-based BEE (BBBEE) procurement spend be raised to 80% from the current 15% to achieve five points on the scorecard. The proposals will no doubt we welcomed by the recently formed Black Agencies Network Association (Bana), created in the wake of calls to transform the industry by the South African Human Rights Commission, which conducted an inquiry into the sector. At the time, Bana chairperson Groovin Nchabeleng told the FM it was critical that unheard black voices in the industry be heard. The FM has reached out to several agencies for their reaction to the proposals and the effect they will have on business if they are activated. Most agencies declined, with some offering the traditional response of the proposals being studied carefully. Thabang Skwambane, CEO of Nahana Communications Group, which houses the big FCB agency, told industry website MarkLives: “We understand the viewpoints that have been raised by small up-and-coming agencies that it can be difficult to break into the market. We also recognise that this is especially the case for 100% black-owned entrepreneurs. We strongly believe that there needs to be significantly more successful 100% black South African-owned businesses in the marketplace.” Media strategist Gordon Muller believes advertiser BEE status needs to be measured based on the final transaction — “the place where I pay for the audience”. He says: “If the money doesn’t include the genuine small media owners or culturally aligned content creators, the whole thing is a farce. You can get your BBBEE status approved on 5% of your budget and I can give the other 95% to foreign companies like Meta and Google and not one cent stays in the country. How can that be considered transformation?” Muller says an industry measure needs to be created that aims for cognitive diversity, not demographic realignment. “Reward advertisers with BBBEE points for creating content in all 11 official languages, for instance. If the most important global development is brands with purpose, we need to support media with purpose and give points to advertisers who support community media — and double tax breaks for advertisers who shoot local television commercials rather than use global work. “If you start shooting television commercials in Zulu and Sepedi, you’ll have to employ black talent — that’s natural transformation. What’s the point of employing a black copywriter so that they can sit and back-translate bad concepts from Western Europe and North America?” ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.businesslive.co.za/redzone/news-insights/2023-03-30-advertising-industry-debates-new-bee-scorecard-targets/

An organisation’s ‘Leviable Amount’ is defined in the fourth schedule of the Income Tax Act . It is the total amount of remuneration, paid or payable or deemed to be paid or payable by an employer to its employees during any month for purposes of determining the employer's liability for any employee’s tax in terms of that schedule, whether or not such an employer is liable to deduct or withhold such an employee’s tax. Essentially, the determination of an organisation's ‘Leviable Amount’ is based on its payroll. Therefore, only employees on the payroll determine the variable amount of Skills Development over an organisation's measurement period. Thus, an employer must use the total amount of remuneration to determine the Skills Development Levy. As per the 2008 Verification Manual, the source of evidence of an organisation's ‘Leviable Amount’ would be payroll documentation and its annual statement. Skills Development Services are available to guide members on any issues relating to their ‘Leviable Amount’.

Paramount to the success of any B-BBEE Strategy is the holistic knowledge of the definitions and interpretations held in Schedule 1 . The core reason is that definitions contained within other pieces of legislation, in some instances, differ from Schedule 1. Schedule 1 directs that: Interpretation of the Codes must be according to the provisions in Schedule 1 unless the context requires a different meaning. In interpreting the provisions of the Codes, any reasonable interpretation consistent with the objectives of the Act must take precedence. Words importing persons shall, where the context so requires or admits, include individuals, firms, partnerships, trusts, corporations, governmental bodies, authorities, agencies, unincorporated bodies of persons or associations and any organisation having legal capacity. Technical Compliance Services are available to assist members with understanding definitions.

Many organisations opt to use third parties in the implementation phase of their B-BBEE Strategy, which the Codes of Good Practice allow for. However, an organisation may only claim the spend from the time the Beneficiary, not the third-party facilitator, receives it. In addition, a B-BBEE claim is reserved for the originator of the funds and not the third-party facilitator. Essentially, a B-BBEE Verification will follow the money and evaluate the claim from the time it reaches the end Beneficiary. Scorecard Monitoring Services are available to guide members on third-party facilitators.

Thank you for attending the session we hope to see you again soon. for upcoming events follow this link https://www.bee.co.za/training