Altron takes lead with pioneering equity charter
Patrick Wadula
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Senior Business Correspondent
COMMUNICATIONS and technology group Altron yesterday launched its own company charter, Altron Transformation Vision 2010.
This is the first time a listed company has adopted its own black economic empowerment charter.
President Thabo Mbeki last year encouraged companies to initiate their own charters rather than being party to sector charters.
Altron incorporates Altech, Powertech and BTG, and has more than 155 subsidiaries employing 11000 people.
The charter will be applied across the group and all its companies.
Altron’s executive director of corporate affairs, Dali Mpofu, who is also chairman of Altron’s transformation committee, said yesterday the charter was an internal empowerment policy document.
It included a group scorecard for empowerment targets to be reached by the different companies in the group.
“What we have done is to model our strategy alongside the government’s broad-based empowerment strategy,” Mpofu said.
“It is in alignment with the communications and technology charter, as well as the guidelines provided by the charters of our customer base,” he said.
Mpofu said consultations on the group’s transformation vision started in 2002. The process involved many internal stakeholders who would be responsible for the implementation of transformation policies.
According to the Altron charter, subsidiaries entering empowerment equity partnerships should aim at a minimum 25,1% black ownership by 2010.
Group subsidiaries, together with Altron, will try to present suitable funding solutions.
The executive committee will from time to time issue guidelines and models favoured by Altron relating to empowerment partnerships or other mergers and acquisitions.
According to the charter, procurement from black-owned and black-empowered enterprises must make up 50% of total procurement by 2010. Investment in black-owned and blackempowered enterprises as a proportion of total assets has to be between 1% and 2% by 2010.
Altron CEO Robert Venter said yesterday: “We see (the charter) as a significant contribution towards an economy based on fair and equal opportunities.”
Chairman Bill Venter called on the group’s empowerment partners, including the Matomo group, Kagiso, Izingwe and Pamodzi, to champion the cause of black economic empowerment.
“They need to assist in giving it the necessary broad-based flavour and to actively nudge us in the correct direction when we become static or slow,” Venter said.
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