African Mining October 2019 | Page 37

MINING IN FOCUS  B road-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) deals in South Africa have become a controversial subject and remain politically loaded. For some companies, it has been a hindrance, with disastrous consequences. For others, their B-BBEE partners have brought new ideas, knowledge, experience and diversity – all key to the growth and sustainability of an organisation. For Vincent Raseroka, new chairman at Johannesburg-based specialist demolition company Jet Demolition, the initial Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) deals that happened after 1994 were symbolic and necessary to encourage people previously not part of the mainstream economy. “Those empowerment deals were beacons of hope, and benchmarks of possibility. Unfortunately, however, it also cultivated a culture of entitlement,” Raseroka tells African Mining. B-BBEE challenges Raseroka, who has more than 35-years business experience, and an impressive resumé, was recently appointed as chairman of Jet Demolition in a deal that would see the company achieve a Level 4 B-BBEE rating, and 51% black ownership. As part of the same deal, which was concluded in July 2019, Lebogang Letsoalo was appointed as non-executive director. Letsoala has extensive experience in supply chain management, procurement, and project development, and has 19 years’ experience in holding executive portfolios within the energy, chemicals, and mining industries. “If you don’t have matching value systems it is bound to end in conflict. Any company, and its partners, should value, most of all, their people, and if they can’t do that, they are on the road to failure. Letsoalo says that BEE deals have created a lot of opportunities, but also many challenges, and have exposed a number of unethical practices. “One of the biggest disappointments in the past has been that the BEE partners, in many cases, failed to learn and actively participate in the day- to-day activities of their business partners. The perception was that becoming a partner meant that you became an investor, and all you would do is wait for the next dividend payment,” she says. “The truth is that you have to learn to be able to grow as an individual,” she adds. Another challenge, according to Letsoalo, is that many companies injected capital into outside organisations without truly empowering people and small ventures. “The purpose of enterprise development is to grow and nurture new companies and service providers so that they can be sustainable in the future,” Letsoalo says. Building a legacy “We have to go back to the basics and realise that one has to work hard to reap the rewards. You won’t treasure anything that you haven’t worked for. In the end, it shouldn’t be about the money, but about the legacy,” says Raseroka. “It’s been a long hard road for Jet Demolition to find the right BEE partners who share the same values, passion, and ethics,” says Liz Brinkmann, one of the two executive directors of Jet Demolition. Brinkmann and her husband Joe founded Jet Demolition in 1994, having evolved from sister companies Blastech and Jet Technologies. “It took us 11 years to find the right partners” says Joe. But, for Liz, Vincent Raseroka, chairman at Jet Demolition. www. africanmining.co.za African Mining Publication African Mining African Mining  October 2019  35