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Sustainability reportEthical practices Blue Label Telecoms strives to become the leading global distributor of secure electronic tokens of value and transactional services, including non-banking value-added transactional services, within emerging and developing markets. In pursuing this vision we are committed to behaving and interacting with all stakeholders in a professional and ethical manner. The values that underpin our interaction with stakeholders include:
Blue Label Telecoms is a proud supporter of Business Against Crime South Africa. Key impacts and risks The group has identified the following key impacts and risks to the group.
Social Practices Transformation and broad-based black economic empowerment The group decided that BBBEE verification at subsidiary level, as opposed to group verification, was more effective in terms of mitigating commercial risk and developing priority skills for the specific subsidiary companies. The board-appointed transformation committee has developed transformation targets for the South African subsidiaries of the group. Subsidiary companies that have completed the formal verification process include:
Socio-economic development (SED) The group’s main SED areas of focus are the youth, sports development and HIV/AIDS. During the year under review the group’s main initiatives have revolved around Nomonde’s Children’s Home, Legacy Parks, Jakaranda Children’s Home and Malamulele Onward. The group budgeted and disbursed approximately R2,3 million in respect of these initiatives. Nomonde’s Children’s Home Nomonde Duda is a retired nursing sister who cares for abandoned HIV/AIDS children. Blue Label Telecoms in conjunction with Nedbank Limited and Watprop, secured suitable premises in Lombardy East for Nomonde and her children and assisted in renovating the home to better suit the requirements of the home. A nursery for the babies and a sick bay were built. Currently a nursery school and after-care facility are operated daily for the toddlers and school-going children. Blue Label Telecoms hosted a Christmas party for the children at the home in December 2008. IMAGE PG 72 Legacy Parks The South African Rugby Legends Association has been running a number of projects designed primarily to uplift disadvantaged youth. One of these projects is Legacy Parks which involves the development of sporting facilities in previously disadvantaged areas. Blue Label Telecoms joined forces with South African Rugby Legends Association, the Gauteng government, Lucas Radebe and the Protea Glen Community Forum by sponsoring the Lucas Radebe Sustainable Legacy Park in Protea Glen, Soweto. The sporting facilities are used during the day to host school-run sports clinics free of charge for the youth in the community. These clinics also help identify talent and occupy the youth in constructive and sociable activities. In the early evenings the park is used by corporate leagues, that pay a fee, in order to ensure the sustainability and maintenance of the park. At night, the Police Services assist at the park to hand out meals and provide positive role models to homeless children who use the park as a place of security. Malamulele Onward Malamulele Onward is a non-profit organisation that has taken on the substantial task of identifying and helping caregivers of children with cerebral palsy (CP ) in some of the most deprived areas of southern Africa. The project started in the Malamulele area of Limpopo Province and rapidly expanded to the Eastern Cape. Children severely disabled by CP survive, often into adulthood, but they and their families are neglected by the health and education systems. Malamulele Onwards’ programmes aim to address the rehabilitation needs of children with CP through the provision of hands-on therapy and equipment to children living in the most disadvantaged areas of the region; training and empowerment of caregivers and local rehabilitation workers; and the provision of training to therapists caring for children with CP in southern and central African countries (notably Rwanda, Tanzania, Lesotho; Mozambique, Swaziland and Botswana.) Malamulele Onward has been operating for nearly four years. To date, eight outreach projects in Limpopo and in the Eastern Cape have been completed involving 166 children and their caregivers and over 20 local rehabilitation therapists. Blue Label Telecoms has supported this cause by making donations to Malamulele Onward which have been used to purchase equipment for the children. These include specialised seating equipment, wheelchairs and computers. Enterprise development Blue Label Telecoms, through its major subsidiary The Prepaid Company continued to provide financial assistance on an interest-free basis to ZOK Cellular (Proprietary) Limited (ZOK). In addition Blue Label Telecoms provides management and strategic support and other resources to ZOK. ZOK aims to empower budding entrepreneurs from South Africa’s previously disadvantaged communities by equipping them with a ready-made FMC G retailing solution in the form of a ZOK container. This container is a licensed business unit designed as a self contained turn-key business with start-up stock for the retail section, starter packs and airtime, public phones, fax facilities, internet services and ATM facilities. The placement of ZOK containers in previously disadvantaged areas is intended to bridge the gap in telecommunications, ICT and banking services in such areas, as well as to uplift the communities in the areas served by the containers. The group has also provided financial support to Training @ Work, an accredited training service provider. This organisation is a black-owned exempted micro enterprise that provides a vast range of practical oriented learning and skills development programmes aimed at developing the competencies of young people and local communities – including the unemployed, corporates and government agencies. The funding received from the group has been used towards improving their business marketing, human resources and IT capacities. Going forward, the group will be utilising the training services offered by Training @ Work, in particular, sales and call centre training. Press release by ZOK Cellular circulated to Media attending the Launch ZOK Cellular (Proprietary) Limited. Schools initiative launch: Johannesburg: 5 August 2009: ZOK Cellular (Proprietary) Limited today launches a project that seeks to ensure that schools in previously disadvantaged communities are able to generate revenue that will help them improve the running of their schools. Hlonipha Secondary School in Kwa Ndebele (Mpumalanga) is the first recipient of this opportunity and has been selected to pilot this project. The ZOK School Income project is informed by the realisation that in providing for better education in previously disadvantaged schools government resources have been significantly stretched and there is just not enough to cover all the needs of a school. ZOK Cellular (Proprietary) Limited has come on board and is offering a sustainable income generating business to schools. ZOK Cellular (Proprietary) Limited is offering this high achieving school a ZOK Container Business Unit. A ZOK container is a licensed business unit designed as a self-contained business, enabling the operator of the business to offer retail, public telephones, and banking, internet and fax facilities. The container comes completely equipped and once delivered starts operating immediately – “Plug and Play”. ZOK believes the initiative will give the school a platform to be more self-reliant. Other advantages of such a contribution are the fact that both learners and educators who will be managing the operations of the container will have first hand practical experience of running an enterprise and the possibility of becoming entrepreneurs themselves. “Our learners also benefit from the container because now they can use the internet for research and join the global information highway,” said Mr Mabasa, Principal of Hlonipha Secondary School. IMAGES PG 74 X 4 For ZOK a clear benefit is the ability to bring services closer to communities that previously had to travel long distances to access them. “Before the ZOK container arrived, the community around Hlonipha Secondary School had to travel long distances in order to access products that we in the cities take for granted, like ATM machines, prepaid electricity, photocopiers, telephones and faxes. Through this initiative we have brought services to our people and saved them money,” said ZOK CEO , Nonhlanhla Matshazi. It is ZOK Cellular’s intention to continue to introduce more products that help to improve the quality of life of ordinary South Africans. “We are excited about the ZOK container because it is not just for the School of Hlonipha, but will bring much needed services to our community,” said Principal Mabasa. The pilot with Hlonipha Secondary will also include comprehensive training on all products and services as well as the business management of the container. The ZOK Container Business Unit is worth R300 000 complete with its products and services. The cost of the manufacture of the container is supported through partnerships between ZOK and key service suppliers within the container – such as Premier Foods, ABSA Bank, Vodacom and iBurst. The school will be continually supported by ZOK Cellular as per our current operations with regard to licensees but will also be monitored on an ongoing basis with regards to upkeep of the school, where the money is going to, renovations etc./p> Gifts were handed out to the invited guests, students and community at the launch event: IMAGES PG 75 X 2 Preferential procurement The group has initiated a move to procure on a centralised basis via Blue Label Procurement. The centralisation of group procurement will ensure greater efficiencies and coordination of the group’s transformation procurement initiatives. Blue Label Procurement completed its formal BBBEE verification and achieved a Level 2 contributor status. As part of the centralisation process a database has been set up to continually keep track of the group’s suppliers and their BEE status. The group strives to procure all goods and services from BEE certified suppliers, where possible. Human Capital The group recognises that its employees are its most important asset. Executive management ensures that the group’s value and belief system is inculcated throughout the group by the adherence to the group’s Code of Conduct including ethics, environment, health and safety. All new employees undergo an induction session during which they receive their staff manual comprising of the group’s visions, mission, values, conditions of employment, standard group practices, procedures and policies, as well as a health and safety booklet. Blue Label Telecoms’ human resource department oversees the group’s skills development and training initiatives. Senior management in each of the subsidiaries are responsible for ensuring that group strategy and culture are implemented consistently. All permanent employees are automatically included in various group-wide schemes, namely group life as well as group benefits such as miTRAFFIC, Look4help, Look4me, MTN WhereRU and MTN 2MyAid. Group life is an employer-funded benefit which includes death benefit, disability benefit and a funeral benefit. All employees are given the option of joining Discovery Health. All changes to terms and conditions of employment, inclusive of changes to significant operational matters are dealt with on the basis of consultation with staff and mutual buy-in. Employment equity The group is committed to achieving equity in the workplace by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment. The ultimate objective is to create an environment in which all employees are able to compete for job opportunities on the sole criterion of merit and where the demographics at all levels within the workplace are a fair representation of the demographics of the relevant general and regional population. Each individual subsidiary company monitors their employment equity statistics in line with the targets set for the specific subsidiary company. It has been a group focus area to ensure that job descriptions and functionalities of top, senior and junior management were accurately reflected in the Employment Equity reports submitted on an annual basis to ensure alignment between the dti Codes of Good Practice (CoGP) and the EE2A reports. Blue Label Telecoms is a non-unionised environment. The table below depicts the demographics of the employee base in the group:
The increase in the total number of employees compared to the previous reporting period is attributable to the group’s expansion and its consequent support requirement. Training and Skills Development Detailed training plans addressing the requirements of each individual subsidiary company have been compiled for the majority of the group. These plans are aligned with business and individual requirements as well as the annual work place skills plan. The execution of the training and skills development plans is managed in consultation with the group human resource and transformation manager. The group is currently reviewing a number of competency-based performance assessment systems to be implemented as a group-wide initiative, which will enable Blue Label Telecoms to assess the performance of employees and hence identify individual training needs, career development objectives, succession planning, remuneration benchmarking and the like. It is anticipated that this will only be in place in the early part of the next financial year. The group has planned and implemented new training and development initiatives during the year as follows: Learnership initiatives Cigicell (Proprietary) Limited, a subsidiary of Blue Label Telecoms, is participating in the contact centre support learnership programme offered by the Services Sector Education and Training Authorities (SSETA ). The initiative is proving to be successful, providing skills training and development as well as the possibility of employment to those who would not ordinarily have the opportunity to obtain a qualification. The qualification aims to enhance the provision of entry-level service within the contact centre industry. Contact centres have become key business tools that form an integral part of the way in which organisations are run. The group runs a few contact centre operations, both inbound and outbound and hopes to implement the programmes on a regular basis in the future, across its subsidiaries. Leadership development skills A number of the group’s subsidiaries have run leadership programmes aimed at their junior management staff levels. It is based on creating a leadership model that includes self-awareness, group awareness and behaviour design. The workshop develops the staff at both a team and individual level and facilitates the identification of high-potential members for the succession planning process. Living Leadership Velociti (Proprietary) Limited, a subsidiary of Blue Label Telecoms, runs a “Living Leadership” programme aimed at developing their management levels. This workshop has been highly effective and looks at leadership and its relevance in order to transform both the individual and business. It focuses on insights and skills to enable staff to realise their full potential and to use those skills within the work environment. Safety and Health practices A healthy, safe and incident-free working environment enhances productivity and contributes towards employee wellbeing. A group health and safety officer has been appointed with the express intention of enhancing the existing health and safety policy, compliance with legislative requirements, monthly health and safety meetings and health and safety audits. Awareness of the company’s health and safety requirements is created for all new employees as part of their induction process. Frequent information updates are circulated via e-mail to all existing employees. Trained first-aid employee representatives are available on site to assist with any incident. The group had no major safety and health incidents during the year under review. Blue Label Telecoms has a comprehensive HIV/AIDS strategy to minimise the risk to exposure by way of:
Workplace awareness programmes include awareness activities, condom distribution, voluntary HIV testing, infection control, counselling and treatment. The company has a partnership with the Bryanston Assessment Centre and all employee matters of a psychological nature are referred and treated accordingly. In addition, as Discovery Health is the chosen medical aid service provider, all employees are referred to the existing disease management forums within Discovery Health such as the oncology, diabetes and HIV management forums. Environmental Practices Given the nature of Blue Label Telecoms’ business, the group’s environmental impact could be classified as low. The group’s participation in the JSE SRI Index as a newly listed company highlighted a number of areas requiring improvement including environmental management reporting. Blue Label Telecoms is therefore evaluating the respective reporting areas to ensure a more detailed report going forward. In this regard processes and procedures are being established to improve the measurement and monitoring of the group’s environmental impact including carbon emissions. We do not currently measure the following environmental impacts:
A number of other initiatives, however, are under way reflecting the group’s commitment to the environment. These are: Water use Water consumption and use is limited to drinking purposes and ablution facilities. During the year under review infrared activated touch-free taps were installed in the bathrooms of the main premises situated at 75 Grayston Drive, Sandton. IMAGE PG 79 Land use The group occupies leased properties comprising mainly office buildings, none of which is situated in biodiversity-rich or ecologically significant habitats as determined by the Global Reporting Initiative. The company reached agreement with its landlord to expand its main office building situated at 75 Grayston Drive, Sandton, in support of management’s objective to retain as many subsidiaries and employees as possible in one environment to enhance communication and to ensure alignment in culture and objectives. The impact of the centralisation of the group’s business location has been considered and management has agreed to overcome this potential challenge by instituting three different work shifts which employees may elect, dependent on their circumstances. The landlord and its architects gave due consideration to the environmental impact of the building expansion and to this end incorporated a wide spectrum of solutions and best practices to ensure an eco-friendly building. On completion, the entire building will be operated to reduce the overall impact on human health and the natural environment by more efficient use of energy, water and other resources, as well as protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity. Energy efficiency The energy consumption of Blue Label and its subsidiaries located at the office building on 75 Grayston Drive, Sandton for the 12-month period ended 31 May 2009 amounted to a total to 1 648 186,64kWh. Energy saving initiatives have been identified and will be implemented in the existing building as well as the new building currently being erected. Recycling Blue Label continues to recycle its office waste such as paper and printer cartridges in an environmentally friendly manner. Waste paper and scrap, including printer cartridges, associated with an office environment are collected by scrap dealers for disposal in an environmentally friendly manner. Greenhouse gas emissions Business activities resulting in greenhouse gas emissions include electricity usage, transportation, waste treatment and disposal and industrial processes such as air conditioning and the like. The group is aware that it is necessary to take reasonable steps to limit the effects of such emissions. During the year, no prosecutions or fines were brought against the group for the contravention of any environmental laws and regulations. INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE STATEMENT To the board and stakeholders of Blue Label Telecoms: SustainabilityAssurance.co.za (SA) was commissioned by Blue Label Telecoms (hereafter, BLT ) to provide independent third-party assurance over the 2009 sustainability report (the report, covering the period 1 June 2008 to 31 May 2009) contained within BLT ’s integrated annual report. The assurance team comprised primarily of Michael H Rea, our principal corporate social responsibility (CSR) consultant, with experience in environmental and social performance measurement. Over the past 10 years, Michael has undertaken over 30 assurance engagements in various countries, including Sudan, Kenya, the DRC , Nigeria, Cameroon, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Peru and Canada: working either as part of a team (while in the employ of PWC and KPMG), or as an Independent CSR consultant. Independence SA was not responsible for the preparation of any part of this report and has not undertaken any commissions for BLT in the reporting period concerning reporting or data collection. SA’s responsibility in performing its assurance activities is to the management of BLT alone and in accordance with the terms of reference agreed with them. Assurance objectives The objectives of the assurance process were to provide stakeholders of BLT with a low level independent assurance opinion on whether the report meets standard reporting principles of completeness, accuracy, consistency and neutrality, as well as to assess the degree to which the report is consistent with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 guidelines, with the objective of establishing whether or not the report has met the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Application Level C reporting requirements. Scope of work performed The process used in arriving at this assurance statement is based on best practices in sustainability reporting assurance. Our approach to assurance included the following:
Findings In general, the company’s sustainability reporting processes are adequate, and this report reflects a significant improvement over BLT ’s 2008 report. However, it was found that:
Based on our review of the report, as well as the processes employed to collect and collate information reported herein, it is our assertion that this report meets the GRI G3’s requirements for Application Level C (responses to all required indicators, as well as no fewer than 10 core indicators, with at least one from each of social, economic and environment). However, it was found that:
Recommendations While we are satisfied that this report is a fair demonstration of BLT ’s ability to collect, collate and report on its sustainability performance, the following recommendations have been identified:
Conclusions Based on the information reviewed, and citing BLT ’s status as a recently listed company (second year of JSE Limited listing), SustainabilityAssurance.co.za is satisfied that this report provides a reasonably comprehensive and balanced account of the environmental, safety and social performance of BLT during the period under review. The data presented is based on policies and procedures that are, in many cases, still in the process of further development and/or implementation, and we are satisfied that the reported performance data reasonably represents the current environmental, safety and social performance of BLT . Moreover, and although the quality or quantity of data of many GRI G3 indicators can yet be improved, this report appears to meet the GRI G3’s requirements for Application Level C (C+ with this assurance engagement). SustainabilityAssurance.co.za GRI G3 application level requirements This is BLT ’s first attempt at ensuring compliance to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 sustainability reporting requirements, as recommended by King II. As such, we have opted to seek C+ Level of GRI G3 compliance. The following tables provide a summary of the GRI’s requirements, as well as a quick reference to our self-assessment of compliance. IMAGE PG 83 Request for feedback Because this is only our first attempt at producing a sustainability report, we are mindful of the possibility that we could fall short of the reporting expectations of at least some of our key stakeholders. As such, we are hopeful that you, the reader of this report, will contact us and offer us your views on the quality and usefulness of this document. Should you have any questions about our company, or comments about anything contained within this report, please contact Elizna Viljoen via e-mail at eliznav@blts.co.za. This page is available as a PDF download
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