Merchants re-claims Level 2 B-BBEE rating
Merchants is proud to announce the achievement of an impressive B-BBEE Level 2 status, a milestone that places Merchants people, clients and communities as meaningful participants in the transformation of the South African economy. A level-2 B-BBEE status is awarded to companies that score more than 95 but less than 100 of the allocated points on the BEE scorecard.
The momentous move from Level 4 in 2018 to Level 2, this time with over 51% black ownership and 30% black female ownership, is an achievement which marks a significant milestone as part of Merchants’ transformation journey, as does the recognition as one of the top employers in South Africa for the 8th year in a row.
Merchants’ enhanced B-BBEE status also benefits existing clients and enhances growth prospects of partnering with new clients. For potential clients, partnering with Merchants guarantees added competitiveness as clients can claim 125% of their spend against their preferential procurement scorecard, and further 51% black and 30% black female ownership points.
Merchants’ continued substantive investment in the transformation journey has yielded maximum points on key elements of the scorecard. Ownership scored 25 out of 25 as Dimension Data and NTT, as Merchants parent companies, are equally committed to the transformation journey. The recent new B-BBEE transaction comprising of Employee Share Option Plan and Sale of the Asset – The Campus, to a black female owned entity resulted in an improvement by 37%, from 15.84 in 2018 to 25 points maximum. Enterprise Development remained steady at 7 points from 2018 to 2019 as Merchants continue to partner with qualifying external supplier/s, offer developmental support and integrate into the Merchants supplier value chain. Supplier Development remained steady at 10 points as Merchants continue to identify the needs of current qualifying suppliers and offer tailored support towards their growth. Socio-Economic Development also remained steady at 5 points through among others the Merchants partnership with Columba Leadership Academy on youth development. Preferential Procurement has significantly improved by 13%, from 19.38 in 2018 to 24.50 out of the total 27 points.
Merchants aims to continue with its relentless performance while investing in people-centred transformation, particularly focusing on diversified management control, unlocking potential through skills development and integrating enterprise and supplier development beneficiaries in the supplier value chain towards receiving a Level 1 score in 2020 under the new revised codes.