BBBEE Programme
Air Products South Africa (Pty) Ltd fully supports the principles of BEE, now in the form of the BBBEE Act 53 of 2003.
By driving BBBEE, Air Products is enabling more historically-disadvantaged individuals to participate in the South African economy. In turn, black participation in the form of creation of small medium enterprises, skills development, employment equity, preferential procurement, and socio-economic development which create a platform for PDI to actively take part in the economy which will significantly reduce poverty and produce greater economic equality for all South African citizens.
Many plans have been in place for some years already to progress our well-established strategies regarding the advancement of previously disadvantaged groupings in our country. With the advent of the Code of Good Practice published under the Act and were Gazetted in February 2007, Air Products has long started to meet the requirements of these Codes.
Now that there is some certainty regarding the standards of these Codes, and the Accredited Verification Agencies are permitted to perform the SANAS approved rating procedure, Air Products was officially audited for the first time in January 2007 by Ingcazi Ratings (Pty) Ltd and achieved an overall rating of 55.3% translating to a level 5 contributor.
Code 100 Ownership
Air Products is a 50% owned Joint Venture with REMGRO and APCI and as such would have to conform to the global practices of both Groups when addressing this Element.
Code 200 Management Control
Over the past 9 to 10 years, since the introduction of the Employment Equity Act 55, Air Products has aggressively addressed this Element and now we have 20% of Top/Senior Management posts occupied by Black people, and there are plans to raise this representivity to around 30% within the near future.
Code 300 Employment Equity
Over 65% of all employees levels are occupied by Black people, with 20% being females and over 5% are people with disabilities.
Air Products believes that the key to success lies in highly capable, empowered and motivated employees who, as stakeholders, help shape our company’s sustainable future. As we strive towards a high-performance culture, our key objectives are to value and build diversity and to empower all employees to reach their full potential through skills development initiatives.
We strive to ensure equitable representation across all occupational categories and levels. We are well on our way to achieving our employment equity goals and targets.
Employment equity is not merely about meeting targets. All employees need to understand and support its underlying goals
Code 400 Skills Development
Over 90% of the overall funds spent in this Element are allocated to historically disadvantaged people, mainly in academic and skills upgrades. Air Products promotes a “Culture of Life-Long Learning” within its structures, which has seen many Black people obtain recognized qualifications.
Air Products embraces the opportunity it has to create a diverse talent pool, internally for its own business purposes, and externally for the benefit of the entire Gas industry.
Skills development therefore remains one of our key priorities.
Code 500 Procurement
Our level of procurement from BEE companies and service providers is already at 79%. However, due to the highly technical and complex nature of much of our equipment utilized in our national operations, it is not always possible to obtain these locally, but wherever possible, local manufactures will be used on an ongoing basis.
By sourcing our goods and services from black-owned suppliers and by investing in the development of small black-owned enterprises, Air Products is able to make a meaningful contribution to the future sustainability of other South African businesses while also building a strong network to procure the best and most-competitively priced goods and services.
Code 600 Enterprise Development
We are already responsible for development of one SMME and we also actively supporting another in terms of handing over a profitable business, including selling the assets below market value. We will actively seek to support other SMMEs wherever they may be viably formed and sustained.
Code 700 Socio-Economic Development
South Africa’s social development needs are great and Air Products have a vested interest in seeing the country grow and prosper.
The plight of so many men, women and children living in poverty, without access to jobs, decent education, good health or care resources, drives AIR Products’ and its employees to embrace projects that support such endeavors.
Our Air Products Socio-Economic Development Committee uses a structured corporate social investment (CSI) strategy to ensure that the initiatives it supports are relevant to the communities which are around Air Products’, and meet our country’s national social development imperatives.
Air Products’ Socio-Economic Development programmes leverage well-considered partnerships to stretch deep into rural communities, so ensuring that poor, underprivileged and historically-disadvantaged people receive the assistance they so desperately need.
Over 1% of NPAT is already spent on this Element and 95% goes into schools, clinics, NGOs, and communities and rural development initiatives. These projects are largely identified and supported by our own people and more often than not, involve our own employees in the actual implementation of these activities.