Cargo Carriers, South Africa’s premium transportation, logistics and supply chain service provider, has responded to the South African Government’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) regulations with enthusiasm and has a host of initiatives in the pipeline. Audit and Risk Manager, Diana Padayachee shared the company’s developments and goals. “B-BBEE regulations actually talk to our company’s values, so for us at Cargo Carriers, the regulations align with the Cargo Way. We have been very busy with projects and programmes to improve our scorecard and are very proud of our recent rating.”

Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) is South African legislation which seeks to increase the involvement of previously disadvantaged individuals, i.e. people of colour (Black, Indian, and Coloured), women of all races, and the disabled, in mainstream economy.   Companies are scored on a ranking scale of 1 to 8 and scores are based on seven pillars linked to the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice. In the 2016 verification, Cargo Carriers achieved a Level 3 B-BBEE rating having improved their rating from a Level 4.

There are many attributable factors to this; including the Employment Equity pillar which has improved by a whopping 17%, whilst Skills Development has increased by 12%. Valuing the importance of education the company has placed a strong focus on training of disabled learners and diesel mechanic apprentices at its Cargo Carriers Training Academy, a MerSETA certified Training Centre in Sasolburg. Upskilling employees is also high on the company’s agenda, equipping staff to become decision-makers and hone their leadership skills. An Advanced Management Programme for general managers and divisional directors was introduced; as well as the Management Development Programme and Introductory Management Development Programme, further gearing decision makers and client-facing managers with best-in-class skills. Going forward, the company will continue to boost skills development and training of their workforce.

Procurement continues to achieve high rankings on the scorecard and has been increased incrementally since 2007, whilst the company continues to assist with development of suppliers and subsequently continues to score highly in this regard.

Innovation lies at the heart of the Cargo Carriers Way and as such, the logistics provider is constantly looking for new and better ways of doing business in order to improve performance. More effective products, processes, services, technologies and ideas are all methodologies the company uses to establish newness and freshness. ESOP, an Employee Share Ownership Programme,   is one such concept the company is currently implementing. “Providing shares to our employees is a way of thanking them for their loyal and dedicated service to our company,” says Padayachee. “Again, this talks to our values of Loyalty and Mutual Respect.”

Health & Wellness of employees is paramount to the company, and programmes have been in place for many years to ensure a healthy workforce. These programmes now form a part of the Socio-Economic Development rating which continuously enjoys maximum points on the scorecard.

“We are confident of excellent future rankings on the B-BBEE scorecard,” says Padayachee. “We are addressing all sorts of innovative ways to ensure our key stakeholders benefit from the regulations. Our commitment to our customers and Government is unwavering as we transform our business to provide an even better service to all,” she concluded.