Companies should recognise the economic value of diversity
Busa: prioritise substance of BEE over form
After six months of deliberation, Business Unity SA has delivered a document on how to actively transform society and the economy, with special emphasis being placed on education, skills training and diversity in top-management positions
Organised business has released a document that spells out its view on what transformation means and how to deracialise the SA economy. It could hardly be more different to the new mining charter. The document was produced after a six-month think-tank process within Business Unity SA (Busa) and endorsed by its members. It defines an “end state” for transformation focused on broadening and deepening economic participation and benefit, linked to boosting competitiveness, growth and employment. “Unless we do something to transform the structure of the economy, we are not going to activate its potential, because the economy is just not firing on all cylinders,” says Busa CEO Tanya Cohen. Business wholeheartedly backs the objectives of broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) and employment equity legislation, as well as sector-based BEE regulations — but, says Cohen, these have tended to drive a numerical, compliance approach rather than one aimed at transformation. Business favours...
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