Isilumko Activate, a subsidiary of EOH, confirmed its position as a top performer in the area of transformation when the company retained its Level 2 contributor status in terms of BBBEE. With an overall improvement in the company’s BBBEE credentials, Isilumko’s black ownership increased to 73.51% from 51.2%, and black female ownership is now at 45.5% from 37.2%. The recently awarded scorecard was presented by the independent verification agency, Empowerdex.

Director Brendan Powell says, “Isilumko has always viewed BBBEE as an opportunity to make a positive contribution towards transformation in South Africa. Confirmation of our status as a Level 2 contributor is a reflection of our progress in the areas of employment equity, skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development and socio-economic responsibility.”

Highlights of the Empowerdex accreditation include:

Confirmation that Isilumko Activate achieved an overall score of 23 points out of a target score of 20 points for company ownership
An Employment Equity score of 10.9 out of a possible 15 points echoed Isilumko’s commitment to driving black female ownership
A score of 5 out of 5 for the area of corporate social responsibility reinforced Isilumko’s continued commitment to building and enhancing the quality of life of people from previously disadvantaged communities
The area of enterprise development yielded a score of 15 points out of a possible 15, which reflected the actions that Isilumko has undertaken in order to assist with the development of black owned SME’s

“Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment audits take place annually, but progress across Isilumko’s entire scorecard will be monitored throughout the year,” says Powell. Adding to this he says thatIsilumko Activate policies and processes will be regularly reviewed to ensure the organisation doesn’t lag behind on targets.

Isilumko Activate director Lauren Durant commenting on the codes says, “The old codes required us to all think in terms of BBBEEE Levels. To get benefit from the new codes it will require us to think in terms of black and black female ownership where the largest available preferential procurement points are obtained.”

Adding to this she says, “We are very proud of our 2015 accreditation and see it as an excellent foundation upon which to build for the future. Moving forward, we will focus on making further improvements to our employment equity profile and skills development initiatives.”

Author: Thandi Nkabinde