This issue concentrates on HR acting seriously, what the "idea" of an HR Designation ‘Act’ is all about and also some input to the recently released Employment Equity Report. There is some news regarding an upcoming meetings, new members, Web etc…. We close off with the usual profiling of some interesting people and information & news.

If there is anything you would like to see in the next issue, please let us know.

We cannot begin to imagine the loss of a loved one, it is always a lonely and extremely sad period in our lives. The Bus Accident that has so brutally and finally ended the lives of so many people makes this a National Tragedy for all of us. We send our deepest and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of those lost in this terrible accident.

He will leave to his final resting place from the Orlando Stadium, in Soweto, where he lived for many decades, among the masses of black working people who supply labour to the businesses of the greater Johannesburg area. With the departure of Walter Sisulu, we have lost one of the major architects of the ANC, as we know it today. He played a central role among the group of leaders and activists who have occupied the front ranks of our movement for 60 years.

Together, they established the ANC Youth League. They changed the forms of struggle used by the ANC from petitioning the powers that be, by mobilising the people to engage in mass action for their liberation. They broadened the movement for national liberation, by ensuring that it includes all sections of our population, African, White, Coloured and Indian, giving birth to the Congress Movement. They established a strategic alliance between the ANC, the SACP and the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), and later, COSATU, led by the ANC as the political leader of the national democratic movement. They mobilised our people to produce an enduring vision for a liberated South Africa, as contained in the Freedom Charter.

When the circumstances changed, they worked to ensure that the ANC continued to live and to lead, by rebuilding it as an underground movement and establishing an external mission led by one among them, the late Oliver Tambo, supported by others who belonged to the same generation, including Moses Kotane, J.B. Marks and Yusuf Dadoo. Refusing to submit to tyranny, they decided to include armed struggle among our forms of struggle, leading to the formation of the people's army, Umkhonto we Sizwe.

They led the process that established one of the biggest internationalist solidarity movements in history, the world anti-apartheid movement, involving millions of people throughout the world as supporters of our struggle and friends of our people. At the same time, Walter Sisulu and his comrades also taught our movement that it also had a responsibility to act in solidarity with others elsewhere in Africa and the rest of the world, who, like us, were involved in struggle for freedom, peace and social progress. This entrenched the internationalist character of our movement, which was expressed at the very formation of the ANC, when it secured the patronage of the traditional leaders of our people, throughout Southern Africa, and later inspiring the establishment of sister ANCs in a number of countries of our region.

When the time came, Walter Sisulu and his peers, especially Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, led our movement to prepare for the negotiated resolution of the conflict in our country and to take us through the process of negotiations successfully. They led us through the first democratic elections in our country and the first years of the establishment of our democratic system of government. Under their leadership, South Africa transformed itself from the status of an international pariah, to an important contributor to the struggle for Africa's renaissance, and an integral part of the world forces working to build a world order of democracy, peace, equality among the nations, and prosperity for all. By any standard, these contributions constitute a critical part both of our rich history and the kind of South Africa we are able to build today. We are therefore very right to salute Walter Sisulu in the manner that we have done in the period since May 5, when he passed away. We are correct to feel a great sense of loss at the departure of so great a leader of our movement and people as Walter Sisulu.

We have lost a valuable guide, with a great wealth of experience, on whom we could call for advice as we grappled with the serious challenges of transformation that we face everyday. When Walter Sisulu took up fulltime work in the ANC as its Secretary General, our organisation did not have sufficient resources both to pay its chief executive officer and to implement the decisions taken by its National Conferences and National Executive Committee. Knowing very well that more often than not, he would not be paid, Walter Sisulu did not hesitate to carry out the instruction of National Conference to work fulltime for the organisation. This reflected the ready willingness of Walter Sisulu and others of his comrades to make the necessary sacrifices to secure the liberation of our people, as they had shown during the Defiance Campaign of 1952.

This echoed the similar willingness of the masses of the people to engage in action to liberate themselves, being ready to pay whatever the necessary price might be, as was demonstrated during the 1946 mine workers strike and the mass struggles of 1950 in Alexandra Township.

Walter Sisulu's commitment to our movement and our struggle was further to be tested during the 30-year period of extreme repression from 1960 to 1990. This period gradually built up during the 1950s with the passage of the Suppression of Communism Act and the banning of the Communist Party, through the violent suppression of mass action, and the marathon Treason Trial of 1956-61. Walter Sisulu was among those targeted by the apartheid regime as it prepared to hit at our movement harder, using ever more brutal means. At no point did he waver or seek to retreat.

Then began the period of extreme repression proper, with the 1960 massacres at Sharpeville and Cape Town, and the banning of the ANC and the PAC. For Walter Sisulu and his comrades, this was to culminate in the Rivonia arrests and trial, and their life imprisonment by the apartheid courts. Thus Walter Sisulu was to spend 25 years of his life in the apartheid jails. Once more, during the Rivonia Trial, he, together with the others, demonstrated his willingness even to pay the supreme sacrifice to secure the freedom of his people by using the witness box as a platform to sustain the political offensive against the oppressors' regime. When the time came, together with the others, he decided that it would be politically incorrect to appeal against the death sentence, in the event that such a sentence was handed down. As they had argued with regard to the struggle in general, these leaders of our movement said that they would rather rely on the struggles of the masses of our people to save them from the gallows, rather than depend on the humiliating mercy of their oppressors. If the masses he loved could not save his life, Walter Sisulu was ready to go to the gallows defiantly singing of the freedom he knew would come, even if he had been murdered by the apartheid regime.

But even as he fought against the increasingly brutal system of apartheid, Walter Sisulu never abandoned the vision and conviction that had informed the response of our people to the European settlers from the very first days of their arrival in the Cape. Our people were ready to share their country with the new arrivals, extending to them the traditional welcome with which new settlers were received. However, these settlers were intent on colonisation, the seizure of the land of the indigenous population, and their subjugation and super-exploitation as a colonised people.

But still, throughout the centuries during which our people fought for their liberation, at no time were they driven by an anti-white sentiment, being inspired by the desire for a just and peaceful coexistence between themselves and the new arrivals from Europe. And so it was that Walter Sisulu and others in his cadre of leaders, resisted for a long time the demand to take up arms against the apartheid regime. They did this because even as this regime was closing off all avenues to the peaceful resolution of the conflict in our country, they were determined that change should be brought about with the minimum loss of life among both black and white.

Indeed, when it became absolutely necessary to resort to armed struggle, our leaders directed that it should be carried out in a manner that minimised loss of life. This position was maintained throughout the period of armed struggle. Some of our critics, who played no part in the struggle to liberate our people, content to enjoy the privileges of the apartheid system, often comment in a disparaging manner about the effectiveness of our armed struggle. Perhaps what they will never understand is the humanism that drive Walter Sisulu and our leaders, which imposed an obligation on Umkhonto we Sizwe to conduct its operations under the most restrictive political commands. Contrary to what they suggest about an effective armed struggle, we are proud that Umkhonto we Sizwe did not conduct itself in a manner that would have resulted both in many operations and the death of many non-combatants, both black and white.

But it is precisely this that we, the fighters for the victory of the national democratic revolution must understand, that Walter Sisulu gave a particular and distinct character to our movement.

He taught us that because we were opponents of white racist tyranny, we must ourselves be principled adherents of the vision of a non-racial South Africa, and the practices this entailed, even within our movement. Because we were enemies of a neo-fascist regime, we must ourselves remain very firm in our adherence to democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

He taught us that specifically because we were fighting a regime that based its relations, especially with the rest of the African continent, on the use and the threat of the use of force in all its forms, to achieve domination, we had to remain loyal to the internationalist traditions of our movement, which respected the independence of peoples, and equality, friendship and mutually beneficial co-operation among the nations. We had to fight and defeat all efforts that sought to encourage us to copy our enemy in its ideology and methods. Whereas it pursued anti-human policies, we, for our part, and at all times, had to affirm and re-affirm the humanist purposes of the ANC and the rest of the broad movement for national liberation. This is exactly why at the Rivonia Trial, Nelson Mandela said he was as opposed to black domination, as he was opposed to white domination.

As we bid farewell to this great giant of our struggle, Walter Sisulu, all our leaders, cadres and members have a duty both to study the life and invaluable contribution of Walter Sisulu and others of his comrades. All of us have a duty to try as best we can to emulate Walter Sisulu in doing all the things that are necessary further to advance the national democratic revolution. This includes a deep understanding of the need to make the necessary sacrifices to give effect to our express commitment to serve the people of South Africa, as Walter Sisulu did, without seeking any rewards of any kind.

One of our old freedom songs says: "We are the soldiers of Luthuli. Wherever we may be, we pledge to bear witness to the nobility of our cause." At the passing of Walter Sisulu, and as our tribute to him, we must proclaim by word and deed: "We are the soldiers of Sisulu. Wherever we may be, we pledge to bear witness to the nobility of our cause."

The Council will meet on 6 June 2003 and on the agenda are the HR Conference in Ghana, the strategic meeting details and feedback. If any organisation wishes to add to this please contact Claudette this week.

So much can be said about the HR Profession and what it is all about. What is urgently required is for HR to act seriously to be taken seriously.

On the face of it, HR has much to offer, at least to management. But strong reservations have been expressed about it by a number of academics and by a practitioner. (Fowler, 1987). These reservations can be summed up as follows:

• HR does not pass muster either as a reputable theory or as an alternative and better form of personnel management.
• HR is, in Guest's words, an optimistic but ambiguous concept; it is all hype and hope.
• Even if HR does exist as a distinct process, which many doubt, it is full of contradictions, manipulative and, according to the Cardiff school (Biyton and Turnbull, 1992), downright pernicious.
• The prized goal of HR remains unproven at best, and unfulfilled at worst (Mabey et al, 1998).

What’s more is that from the existing research it is clear that a single, all encompassing, theory of Strategic-HR has not emerged. However, relevant midrange theories, in both strategy and HR, have been developed. More importantly, the common threads that link these theories have begun to be identified. (Butler, 1991).

One would assume therefore that there is a possibility to put the past behind us and concentrate on the future of HR, through the creation of a measurable and standards / quality driven HR Practitioner. What is however, extremely important is that we stop telling each other our justification of our profession and rather turn our attention to our customers! One of these said, "There will be no need for 90 percent of the positions in today's HR department. So, if you are less than 50 years old and you intend to make a career out of human asset management, listen to what your customers are saying. We must be responsible for preparing both ourselves and our successors for the marketplace…". (Fits-enz, 1996, p. 88) Fits-enz said this in 1996!

Ultimately I am sure we all agree that unless we take our profession through the, i.e. subjecting each of us to the rigorous quality and standards determining processes then we cannot truly consider ourselves professionals and/or a profession.

Ulrich supports this when he says that regardless, HR cannot expand its role in an organisation without the requisite expertise. Becoming a strategic partner demands a degree of knowledge about strategy, markets, and the economy.

Becoming an administrative expert demands some knowledge of re-engineering, as well as the intricacies of what the line actually does.

If HR is to effect real change, it must be made up of people who have the skills they need to work from a base of confidence and earn what too often it lacks, respect. (Ulrich, 1998)

It has been said that executives who recognise the economic value and the benefit to their customers of intellectual capital and organisational capability need to demand more of the HR function. They need to invest in HR as if it were a business. And they must get beyond the stereotype of HR professionals as incompetent value-sapping support staff. It's time to destroy that stereotype and unleash HR's full potential.

From the above and other statements made every day it is clear that HR Professionals need to

• begin to act more professionally;
• focus more on the deliverables of their work and less on just getting their work done;
• articulate their role in terms of the value they create;
• create mechanisms so that business results quickly follow; and
• measure their effectiveness in terms of business competitiveness rather than employee comfort

HRCOSA supports these as part of their core strategy in enhancing the HR Profession through its members. Each member organisation is there to ensure the standards and quality checks of their respective parts of the greater human resource environment and profession. We need to act now, take serious decisions regarding HR and take the next crucial steps in achieving what our customers need and want from us – a professional HR practitioner! One way of achieving this the drafting of a HR Designation ‘Act’.

It is "an idea" that HR standards and quality need to be legislated, i.e. in the same manner as that of the Chartered Accountant CA(SA). HR Professionals need to achieve a set level, standard and quality to be assigned the designation HR(SA). Furthermore the idea is that all HR related legislation incorporate the duties and responsibilities of the HR(SA) in such a manner that the HR Professional can and will be held accountable to the state, his/her colleagues, employer and society at large for their adherence and promotion of national initiatives, e.g. employment equity, skills development and their CCMA record. The HR Designation ‘Act’ is intended to require listed companies and those with a certain number of employees, say 500+, to appoint a HR(SA) who in turn is accountable to the state and their employer for the minimum requirements that apply, for example, in the following labour legislation:

Access to Information Act; Employment Equity Act; Unemployment Insurance Act; Skills Development Act; Labour Relations Act (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration); Occupational Health & Safety Act; and Basic Conditions of Employment Act

Because HR is a profession it is also envisaged that the state, an employer or an individual may approach a ‘Professional Registration Institution’ to have the HR Practitioner ‘disbarred’ and/or have his/her HR(SA) status revoked. We must also cater for the RPL process and I would like to encourage all those who have had years of experience to contact the SABPP to undergo this process. I can assure you it is worth your while ask me. I am more than willing to assist anyone with more than 10 years experience without a recognised HR qualification in their RPL.

Because this is "an idea" we would appreciate your input and comments. Given that this affects both the academic and operational application of HR in South Africa. We think it is important that we consult as widely as possible and canvass as many ideas as we can.

Human Resource Management as a Profession in South Africa: Practitioners' Perspectives by Chantel van der Westhuizen, LJ van Vuuren, Deléne Visser, Programme in Industrial Psychology, Department of Human Resource Management, RAU

This is a must read.

"During early 2002 many of you completed a questionnaire on The HR Profession and Ethics. The first of a series of articles based on this research was completed recently. It has also been accepted for publication in one of the 2003 volumes of the new (South African) Journal of Human Resource Management.

I am therefore pleased to firstly thank you sincerely for taking the time to complete the questionnaire and secondly, to give you feedback on some of the results.

This is supplied in the form of the abstract included below. We will keep you informed about further publications in the series based on the data obtained from the questionnaires. Kind regards, Prof. Leon van Vuuren, Programme in Industrial Psychology, Department of Human Resource Management, RAU"

ABSTRACT

There is no overall Human Resource Strategy in South Africa, not even one that addresses the numerous pieces of legislation throughout the human resources profession. If South Africa is happy with a 1% per year improvement in the equity distribution of the labour force, then the Human Resource Council of South Africa (HRCOSA) must disagree.

The time is now, Human Resources (HR) are a profession and we therefore needs to take responsibility. HRCOSA and Government need to take seriously the recommendation to pass a HR Designation ‘Act’ and include HR Practitioners at appropriate levels in the legislative framework of people / labour related legislation and hold these practitioners accountable for a number of people / labour related legislation and where necessary for a lack in these areas specifically in that of transformation.

The Minister indicated that the "annual report highlights a number of areas of deep concern, including the dis-empowerment of those managers assigned with the responsibility of monitoring the implementation of employment equity processes. Those individuals – in fact – remain "junior" employees with no commensurate powers, necessary resources and adequate support to achieve their goals. This tends to be predominant in major companies." The HRCOSA seeks to improve upon this by the introduction of the HR Designation ‘Act’ in which HR Professionals registered and assigned a Code of Conduct, with standards and quality assurance checking mechanisms – will be held accountable for the state of Employment Equity in South Africa. HRCOSA envisages that a Chartered HR Practitioner "HR(SA)" registered through the HRCOSA by the SA Board of Personnel Practice, will elevate the responsibility for Employment Equity transformation to the highest appointed HR Practitioners in companies, i.e. HR Directors, Managers and Officers. This takes care of the matter close to the Minister’s heart regarding the "dis-empowerment of those managers assigned with the responsibility".

Yes as the Minister stated there is a need to transform policy and even legislation. The HRCOSA’s motivation for an inclusion of the duties and responsibilities and ultimately the accountabilities of HR(SA)’s in legislation is such an example.

This would mean that legislation would make the appointment of a HR(SA) compulsory in listed companies and varied grades of HR Practitioners according to the size of the company and its number of employees. These HR Practitioners and their immediate superiors must then be held accountable, and where necessary even struck from the Human Resources Practitioners / Profession’s Register / Roll!

It is abundantly clear to business that there is a need for "human resources planning". It is mentioned that a lack thereof is a "real and perceived barriers to the implementation of the Employment Equity Act". HR Planning cannot in earnest begin unless business is provided the assurance that the HR Practitioners / Professionals they employ are in fact up to the task. The recommendations above cater for providing these to business and labour alike.

The HR environment, and the HRCOSA membership, is ready to take up its responsibility. The years of de-fragmentation are over and we are united in many ways in achieving these and other objectives. The time is right for HRCOSA and all interested parties to consult and participate with the Minister and his Department in making the initiatives and national strategies come to life.

HRCOSA remains committed to the national labour and HR agenda and the Department of Labour’s national strategy.

Human Resource Management (SHRM) is attempting to obtain as many participants to the International Human Resource Profession Survey. HRCOSA wishes to assist the IPM in this regard and strongly supports their efforts in making this survey a success for the IPM, the shrm and South Africa.

The Institute of People Management invites you to participate in a survey on the state of the HR profession entitled the International Human Resource Profession Survey. As a member benefit, the results from the survey will be provided on the IPM’s website.

The survey will take approximately 5 - 10 minutes to complete. Your participation is important to making this research valid. The survey data is confidential and will not be linked to you or your organization. The IPM values your opinion and urges you to be a part of The Institute of People Management’s efforts to gather real member-driven data on the International Human Resource Profession.

20 May 2003 was the deadline, but I am sure you can still send it in.

The first annual ASTD Global Network SA "State of the Industry" report on Training and HR practices has been released. This groundbreaking report gives a snapshot view of current trends and practices related to training and certain Human Resources practices in South Africa, which includes:

• The Skills Development Act and its mechanisms
• Knowledge Management
• EHRM – The influence of technology on the administration of HR and Training processes.
• E-learning – The influence of technology on the way we learn.
• Skills and Training – What is important and why
• Employee Retention and Human Capital
• The importance of Trends and Benchmarks in HR Strategy.

"The State of the Training Industry – South Africa 2003

A substantial 37% of South African companies are presently using some form of technology-assisted training (e-learning) to train employees but less than 15% of companies spend time on training employees on how to acquire the necessary skills to become a self-directed learner – a skill of utmost importance if companies want to see a decent return on investment for the money spent on e-learning initiatives because MOST employees do not find it easy to study on their own.

These findings are part of the ASTD Global Network SA "State of the Industry" report on Training and Development which has just been released. Lex Rourke, research manager for the ASTD Global Network in SA, says the research report will give Training Practitioners, HR professionals and other interested parties, a snapshot view of South African conditions related to the training and development of employees and certain people practices which could have an influence on employee satisfaction and retention. The report are divided into 7 broad areas which includes the influence of skills related legislation (SETAs and the NQF), e-learning, Knowledge management, E-HR (the influence of technology on HR and Training administration), Skills and training practices, Employee Retention and trends in local and international training practices.

The report reflects the result of a survey that was completed by more than 80 South African companies representing more than 300 000 employees and gives important strategic insight into some of the prevalent Training and HR practices utilised in business today.

Some of the interesting findings include:

• Training and the awareness of the importance of training has definitely come to the fore since the promulgation of the Skills Development Act and other related legislation. The training of employees are now seen in a much more proactive and strategic light.
• The most important challenges for companies to overcome from a Training and people development viewpoint is Leadership Development, Change Management, Staff Retention and the measurement of the value or Return on Investment for employee training.
• More than 75% of respondents indicated that they see Knowledge management as an important element of organisational effectiveness or competitiveness but less than 21% of respondents indicated that there is any form of FORMAL knowledge management initiatives under way in their organisations.
• Companies rate training in Management Development, Computer (IT) skills and financial skills very high but still rate training in Creativity/Innovation and Ethics very low.
• Although most companies understand the high value of good management and effective recruitment practices as tools to retain employees, most companies show little interest in the measurement of employee sentiments through either periodic climate surveys or exit interviews when employees leave. Companies do not measure the real costs of replacing employees and have no risk management strategies in place to determine the likelihood and consequences of resignations. Retention strategies like flexible work arrangements and profit sharing are also rated very low…..

We would like to welcome the following organisations to the Council:

• Services SETA (M)
• Confederation of Associations in the Private Employment Sector (M)
• ASA Metals (Pty) Ltd (C)

Members (M)

Observer Members (O)

Associate Members (A)

Corporate Members (C)

Founding Members (F)

Have you looked at the following Organisations and their Web Sites? We look at CAPES & APSO, which represents the recruiting industry and SABPP which quality assures HR.

of business competitiveness. From a socio-economic viewpoint, the staffing industry affords individuals an opportunity to gain skills and to participate as productive members of society. The fact that more than 4% of the economically active workforce comprises so-called flexible staffing is indicative of this. A challenge facing the staffing industry has, however, been a sense of fragmentation, with the absence of a unified stakeholder forum until recently.

In the second half of 2002, the Confederation of Associations in the Private Employment Sector (CAPES) was launched. CAPES chairperson, John Botha, states that the CAPES vision is to "grow the staffing industry by presenting a unified employer forum to all stakeholders - government, business, employees, professional bodies and seta's." CAPES comprises five member associations, namely

• ANASA (Amalgamated Nursing association)
• APSO (Association of Personnel Service Organisations)
• NSA (National Staffing Association)
• CEA (SA) LBD (Engineering Association of SA - LBD)
• NCCA (National Contract Cleaners Association)

John Botha adds that CAPES' associate membership represents in the region of 400,000 full-time equivalent positions. CAPES also relies on broader stakeholder forums for the achievement of its objectives and the Services SETA has in particular played a fundamental role in the success of CAPES to date. Specific performance objectives of CAPES include the influencing of labour legislation, promoting the strategic benefits of the staffing industry, self-regulation, research and development, transformation in the industry and the like.

There are a number of important amendments pending in regard to regulations pertaining to employment services for gain (ESG). There are two primary drivers in this context:

• the eradication of employment services that do not comply with legislation and/or ethical practice;
• the introduction of means to introduce good practices as a minimum standard, thereby protecting stakeholder rights.

The confederation of Associations in the Private Employment Sector (CAPES) has been assisting the Department of Labour in regard to the proposed amendments and this will result in a balancing of stakeholder interests.

John Botha, the chairperson of CAPES, lists the following primary proposed amendments.

• A requirement for all ESG to re-register with the Department of Labour and a detailed disclosure requirement by those individuals wishing to conduct ESG services (disclosure requirements include, provision of audited statements, proof of financial guarantees with respect to payrolling, resources and infrastructure and the like)
• A total prohibition on the direct or indirect charging of any fees or costs to work seekers.
• The publication of the ESG's certification number in advertisements in publications.
• The prohibition of irregular means employed by ESG aimed at inducing an individual to use a particular employment office.

John Botha adds: "Effectively, this will afford the Department of Labour the right to revoke the operating licence of an ESG who is not compliant with the regulations. We also believe that this could be a step towards preparing the industry for self-regulation in the future.

An association known as APROSA (Association of Private Registry Offices) existed for about 10 years before APSO's formation. APROSA had established

With the tremendous growth and diversification of personnel services in the Republic including general office, professional and executive and technical placements and of temporary staffing services by 1976 the need for a more representative body to safeguard the interests of all sections of the industry was clearly recognised. The association would represent members in their dealings with the Government and promote and ensure for the benefit of both work-seekers and clients adherence to high ethical standards of business.

APROSA was the catalyst which led to the formation of a new association and, at a National Convention on 25 August 1977, companies in the various fields of personnel service agreed to form an entirely new association called the Association of Personnel Service Organisations of South Africa (APSO). Upon APSO's formation, APROSA voluntarily dissolved itself and transferred its funds to APSO. After careful study, APSO adopted a Constitution and Code of Ethics, based on those used by similar associations in the USA, UK and Australia.

SABPP assists organisations in managing and utilising their human resources more effectively. The Board also empowers individuals to realise their full potential, and promotes an enhanced quality of life in the community.

Human Resource is an internationally recognised profession. As the professional standards body of HR in South Africa, the SABPP strives to

Over and above the HRCOSA’s recognition and utilisation of the SABPP as the Professional Registration Institution of the Human Resource Profession, HRCOSA wishes to formally recognise the South African Board for Personnel Practice (SABPP) as the approved Education and Training Quality Assurance body (ETQA) for Human Resources qualifications in South Africa, as accredited by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

The IPM and the SABPP met on Monday 19 May 2003. HRCOSA was invited to attend this important meeting of two very prominent and equally important organisations in the greater HR environment. We agreed to meet again on 19 June 2003 to discuss ways in which we can better work together towards a future for HR in South Africa.

I believe that the HRCOSA, IPM and SABPP have each got a real part to play as specific organisations with specific and very important roles, but I also believe that the many other HR organisations, associated HR related organisations, the state and the industry and environment have an equally important and critical role to play. I was even more encouraged by the proposal by the troika that we hold a national HR meeting / conference where all HR members can take part. We look forward to continuing the great relationship we have with both the Ipm and the SABPP.

As a proud member of all three organisations I look forward to a future filled with positive and constructive initiatives from all of us on the way ahead for HR.

We must act seriously to be taken seriously!

You may be asking who is SAMDI? SAMDI has been involved in numerous interventions, which seeks to improve the functioning of the public service including skills development. Since 2000 SAMDI has played a key role in training and development in the public service including the development and implementation of the Presidential Strategic Leadership Development Programme (a training programme for Directors General in the public service), which was launched by President Thabo Mbeki in 2000.

He will use these skills to position SAMDI positively in the global arena and lead South Africa's implementation of capacity building, multilateral relations and NEPAD in the continent. Mr Soobrayan's vision is to turn SAMDI into a prestigious public sector institution comparable to the best in the world.

"There is no doubt that SAMDI will move to greater heights under the leadership of Mr Soobrayan. Improving the skills of our public servants and ensuring that our country leads the capacity building journey in the public sector requires that the leadership of SAMDI understands our goal of building a developmental state. I am confident that Mr Soobrayan does not only understand this but can lead the public service towards reaching such goals," said Minister Fraser-Moleketi. HRCOSA wishes to congratulate Mr Soobrayan on his appointment.

Black Economic Empowerment and South Africa's Economic Transformation

Have you read the BEE Strategy Document and paid particular attention to the balanced scorecard indicators and weightings? You may wonder why I would be recommending that you do? Well it is HR’s role to participate in the strategic development of the company they work in and as such you can provide your CEO with a valuable input to the BEE Document by completing the scorecard and recommending improvement projects or alerting him/her to the areas of concern.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is appropriate that when we award achievement in South Africa that we reflect on the importance of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in South Africa's economic transformation. The structure of economies does not change quickly and good economic policy understands this and builds up its success in phases. We have done this in South Africa. This allows us to now focus on the microeconomic aspects of our economy with the aim of increasing the growth rate and reducing inequality. For these reasons now is the time to place increased emphasis on BEE.

For those of you who have looked at the Strategy Document you will see that the government places heavy emphasis on the link between economic growth and development and BEE. We see these as associated processes and therefore a process that is to the benefit of all enterprises irrespective of the race of their owners. Apartheid and the colonialism before it systematically dis-empowered the majority of the people in South Africa and this legacy still impacts on us. Things are improving but the levels of poverty and inequality are still too high. This must be changed in the interests of our political, social and economic future. As leaders in our country we must lead this change.

The Need for BEE

The BEE Strategy must be seen in the context of the many other programs introduced since 1994 to address the inequalities in the country. There have been extensive housing, electrification, water, social development, skills development and economic development programmes that have been instituted. Despite these interventions the pace of BEE has not been fast enough in the market place. It is happening but we are not reaching a critical mass fast enough.

It is for this reason that the government agreed with the Black Economic Empowerment Commission that we should set out a more coherent and focussed policy approach.

The Strategy

In formulating the BEE strategy we have consulted widely, both within government and with the private sector. We have also put mechanisms in place to ensure that there is consultation and room to comment on all legislation and guidelines issued. I will speak more about such mechanisms later. The policy is based on four key principles. These are that the BEE strategy is part of the broader economic growth strategy, secondly that BEE should be broad based, thirdly that BEE is an inclusive process and fourthly, that BEE is associated with good governance. Firstly, that Black Economic Empowerment is part of the broader economic growth strategy underlies our commitment to ensuring that economic growth in our country continues on a sustainable path.

South Africa has been able to achieve a moderate economic growth rate of approximately 3% over the past few years as well as average growth of 7% p.a. in the volume of manufactured exports - it is important that this growth continues. The BEE strategy will ensure that more people are brought into the economic mainstream. This will be done in part by ensuring that BEE is not only about shifting assets from white people to black people, we will be looking at growing the size of the economy by continuing on our export orientation, finding ways to grow the size of our domestic market and through investing in large scale infrastructure development programmes, particularly looking at ports, road infrastructure and upgrading railway networks.

To achieve this growth, the government through the dti will have a strong focus on the creation of viable new black enterprises and will continue to offer support for existing enterprises through a range of incentives. For example, the dti has the export marketing and investment assistance programmes, which assist businesses to export and are run by Trade and Investment South Africa. The dti also has a black business supplier development programme to assist businesses improve their capacity and was launched earlier today by Deputy Minister Hendricks. These two initiatives are amongst a number of other excellent services and incentives that are offered by the dti and its family of institutions to assist with the start up and growth of enterprises.

An important area that will also be receiving significantly more attention is access to capital to finance this growth of black enterprises in our economy. Without crowding out the private sector, the dti will be working with several other institutions to find new ways to improve black businesses access to finance. The R10 billion that has been made available by National Treasury will be used for this purpose. Secondly, BEE should be broad based to achieve increased participation by black people in the economy. It is for this reason that BEE has three main components to it: increased black ownership and management of enterprises; the development of human resources with particular emphasis on professional, technological and scientific skills and enterprise development achieved through procurement and enterprise development programs. In all these emphasis is given to more disadvantaged areas and groups. A fourth component are various forms of community social investment appropriate to the circumstances.

Thirdly, the BEE strategy should be an inclusive process in that all enterprises can play a role. There will be certain sectors where a Sector Charter makes sense. However, for the most part we are looking to enterprises to use the scorecard approach to plan and measure their contribution to BEE. Given that most enterprises will at some time contract with government and that other enterprises will need to do business with empowerment enterprises there will be considerable pressure in the market place to utilise and make progress in terms of the scorecard.
Fourthly, BEE is associated with good governance. A fundamental part of our economic reform and transformation is improving the quality and transparency of all economic activity. Accordingly, BEE must be associated with and ensure the highest standards of corporate governance. Concerted efforts will be made to ensure that the quality of corporate boards and governance is improved. Clearly it is in this context that the problem of fronting will now become a serious matter that will be acted on by the state and it is inevitable that the private sector will also act against it. The detail of the policy is set out in the Strategy for Broad-Based BEE.

The BEE Bill

The Black Economic Empowerment Bill provides the legal framework for BEE. This Bill will be tabled in Parliament for public discussion and comment within the next few weeks and I recommend that you obtain a copy when it is released and send through your comments. In summary, the Bill encapsulates the BEE strategy, provides for the Minister of Trade and Industry to issue guidelines and codes of good practice on BEE, allows for the establishment of a BEE Advisory Council, and gives a definition of black people, which is African, Coloured and Indian.

These guidelines and codes of good practice for BEE that will be issued by the Minister of Trade and Industry are important as they will provide guidelines for the sector transformation charters, publish the balanced scorecard indicators and weightings which will be agreed in the sector transformation charters, and allow for a system of reporting on the implementation of BEE.

This last point would cover the reporting by Government, State Owned Enterprises and the private sector. It is important to note that within the Bill it will be a requirement that all guidelines issued by the Minister of Trade and Industry must be published in draft for public comment for at least 30 days.

The BEE Advisory Council will advise the President on the implementation of BEE. The aim of the council will be to review progress, provide advice on the different aspects of BEE and find ways to enhance the implementation of BEE.

Conclusion

I believe that the BEE policy that we have released is sound and it is a good building block from which to grow and transform our economy. BEE will play an important role to structurally transform our economy so that all participate in it irrespective of race, sex or creed and where we collectively build a better life for all. We must all commit ourselves to making a contribution." (Minister of Trade & Industry, Mr Alec Erwin, 10 April 2003)

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Publishers' Association of SA for his magazine work. He is one of the most experienced publishers in the human resources industry in South Africa, having been engaged in such activities since 1994. Prior to launching his own publishing company in 1996, he handled publishing projects for Standard Bank's group human resources division, which gave him deep insight into the challenges facing HR practitioners in large corporates.

Alan is known and respected for his very clear stand on editorial independence and high standards, and readers consequently have high regard for his work. He is particularly vocal on the point that HR people need to become more business focused in order to understand how value is created by the effective utilisation of human capital. This will enable them to make a real contribution to their company's bottom line and so become a respected strategic partner in their companies.

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