Quick Links

Select a quick link to jump directly to that section...

Adoption of B-BBEE Best Practises

Stakeholder Engagement

Enterprise Development(SMEs)

Transformation

The objective of this focus area is to improve industry performance across all Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) indicators. While a strong focus on developing capacity at firms to develop and implement effective B-BBEE strategies is central to success of this area, this needs to be supplemented by sound cluster-based initiatives aimed at optimising resources invested in this area. As an effective economic transformation and empowerment facilitator for the automotive industry in KZN, this programme has delivered significant benefits to the industry.

Adoption of B-BBEE Best Practices

• Best Practice Workshops:

Best practice workshops are hosted on the seven B-BBEE indicators in support of improving performance in each. Examples of subjects previously covered include an overview of the Codes of Good Practice on B-BBEE, socio-economic development and preferential procurement. An annual survey is also undertaken to establish the B-BBEE progress of the industry.

To receive a copy of the presentation from the latest B-BBEE Best Practice workshop which was held on 18 August 2010 please contact Terry Govender terry@bmanalysts.com  

• Implementation Support:

Limited strategic and implementation support in the field of B-BBEE is available to DAC members post participation in best practice workshops.

Stakeholder Engagement

DAC member firms are kept updated and informed of key decisions and activities taking place at a national level.

Enterprise Development (SMEs)

• Automotive Business Retention and Development Week Programme for SMEs:

The Durban Automotive Cluster (DAC), in cooperation with Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) has established an automotive Business Retention and Development Week programme aimed at identifying potential Black owned SME suppliers to the automotive industry. The SMEs are provided with the skills and knowledge to compete in an ever changing and challenging industry as well as a potential direct link with commercial opportunities.

The workshop sessions that are run during the course of this programme consist of the following focus areas: (1) domestic and global automotive trends, (2) world class manufacturing principles, (3) financial management, marketing & export readiness programme and (4) face-to-face meeting with major automotive buyers.

The programme takes place in the Pietermaritzburg, Durban and Richards Bay regions.

• Development of Black Owned SMEs:

The DAC is assisting black-owned, small and medium sized enterprise (SME) suppliers through a multifaceted developmental process.  Black-owned SMEs are encouraged to participate in all DAC activities that other DAC member firms would ordinarily benefit from. There is however a recognition that the smaller size of these firms necessitates specific support that will assist them in terms of their growth and expansion.  The development mechanisms and activities that are employed to support these black-owned SMEs are listed below:

• Benchmarking and strategy development:  Benchmarking against national and international automotive performance standards identifies priority improvement areas, which are in turn used to inform a planning and strategy development process.

• Twinning:  Formalising developmental relationships between individual black-owned SMEs and larger DAC member firms act as a means to transfer high level skills and knowledge from large firms to the SMEs via non-commercial means.

• Mentoring:  In cases where ‘twinning’ was ineffective or not possible, mentoring is introduced. Through this process a retired industry executive provides guidance and support to the black-owned SME on a basis of approximately two days per month.  This fast-tracks the development of business systems and facilitates more sustainable growth than engaging with consultants for short term projects.

• Optimisation of B-BBEE Enterprise Development Spend:

This initiative assists DAC members in productively and beneficially investing their Enterprise Development spend in a manner consistent with the requirements of the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice, while recognising that managing this form of investment is beyond the core competency of the typical firm.

The growing importance of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment in the automotive industry has allowed the DAC to establish a programme that deals specifically with the Enterprise Development indicator, one of the easiest B-BBEE indicators that a firm could score full points. The concept behind this programme is to ensure an easy and effective way for firms to achieve maximum Enterprise Development points on their respective scorecards.

This initiative is currently in its establishment phase and will involve DAC member firms. The pilot project will involve the establishment of an Enterprise Development fund in which selected DAC member firms will contribute 2% of their net profit after tax. The firms will use this money in the fund to develop selected beneficiaries and thus qualify for the Enterprise Development points on the B-BBEE scorecard. Various financing options and development support instruments will be considered in order to ensure that the project is implemented effectively.