CASE STUDY 03
Addressing inequalities in South Africa
In August, OUP Southern Africa was proud to receive the Level 1 Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) certificate, exceeding many target areas such as exercisable voting rights in the hands of black people and the economic interest of black people within the organization.
BBBEE is an integration programme launched by the South African government to reconcile South Africans and address the inequalities of apartheid. It aims to target inequality and stimulate economic growth with the key objective to promote economic participation and equitable wealth distribution.
Compliance with the BBBEE is determined by achieving points on a scorecard, with the more points achieved, the higher the level of compliance.
We exceeded the targets in exercisable voting rights and economic interest, but didn’t meet the targets on management levels and skills development—areas we will continue to work to address. The verification process investigates board participation, management levels, and skills development.
‘This [certificate] required exceptional focus and additional investment; it is not something you achieve for multiple years; the targets need to be achieved every year. As a business, we need to help the government to create jobs in a country with one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.
As part of the BBBEE programme we also employ interns to give young people work experience that could help them to be more employable in the future.’
Hanri Pieterse Managing Director of OUP Southern Africa
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