DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

#DOING BETTER BUSINESS

Just like “zoom”, the words “level” and “stage” took on added significance during the course of the last couple of years. From 2020 to 2022 we dug deep to push through the levels of lockdown in the pandemic - anxiously checking the differing strictures applied from 1 through to 5 - which seemed to stretch interminably, and felt far longer than two years. So many Rapunzels in so many towers. Then, for those of us fortunate enough to emerge from that dystopian nightmare, just as we started looking forward to the future with renewed hope, we were catapulted back into anxiety, this time linked to stages of loadshedding – sometimes having to factor in three different stretches in one day. Planning became a shot in the dark – literally! And yet, lest we forget, all of this forms a backdrop to South Africa’s Vision 2030 to end poverty and discrimination and celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion.

My purpose for invoking the pandemic and loadshedding at the start of this letter was to highlight how tenacious and resilient South Africans are, although in the mass media we do have a tendency, as a country, to dwell on what is wrong - which is why this publication is so important – more than 250 pages honouring empowerment achievements and successes.

This is our 22nd edition of Impumelelo Top Empowerment - #gratitude for still going strong; our theme this year is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion #DoingBetterBusiness and on the cover we celebrate the thought leaders who penned the articles you will find at the beginning of the publication: Yolisa Phahle, CEO: Connected Video, Multichoice Group; Alistair Mokoena, Country Lead, Google South Africa; Lillian Barnard, CEO: Microsoft SA; Eustace Mashimbye, CEO of Proudly SA; and Bonang Mohale, Chancellor of the University of Free State; they are joined by Mamongae Mahlare, CEO of Takealot Group, whose podcast makes for fascinating listening.

The BEE Chamber contributed three articles looking at BEE, job creation and procurement; the duties of a designated employer and new rules regarding supply chain; we also zoom in on high impact ways to spend your leftover BEE budget; the difference between transactional and transformational BEE; how to move from diversity to inclusion and government empowerment projects.

For your edification, there are overviews of 10 empowered sectors, including Finance, Manufacturing, Automotive Industries and Agriculture – and it is our pleasure to highlight Top Empowerment Award winners leading the way: Talifhani Banks, Top Empowered Entrepreneur of the Year; Tshegetsang Sebeela, Top Empowered Business Leader and Dr Felleng Yende, Top Empowerment Public Sector Leader. Joining Takealot Group CEO Mamongae Mahlare in the podcast selection are angel investor Lelemba Phiri, Microsoft’s Joylynn Kirui and Nedbank’s Group Executive for Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Khensani Nobanda.

As our head office is in Western Cape, it would be remiss not to celebrate our fantastic wine industry which we do in two articles covering the journey from the vine to table by focusing on the first black South African woman winemaker, Ntsiki Biyela – and The Black Cellar Club.

A huge vote of thanks goes to the 60-plus clients whom we feature in these pages. We have thoroughly enjoyed putting together this celebration of empowerment for you (completely sans ChatGPT)none of which would have been possible without our amazing team: Director, Van Fletcher; Assistant Editors, Koketso Mamabolo and Sinazo Mkoko; Designer Tashwell Brown and Traffic Manager, Daniël Bouwer.

We hope you enjoy the read – and look forward to seeing you during the course of 2023.

FIONA WAKELIN GROUP EDITOR