For too long, many businesses have seen investment in BEE initiatives as a grudge purchase at worst, and a tick-box exercise at best. Nontombi Selepe, CEO of empowerment company Uthingo Holdings, wants to change that – and she believes that businesses want to change it, too.

‘When [chief commercial officer and co-founder] Jhuanita Rogers and I started this journey, we wanted to show how implementing B-BBEE can provide real benefits and lead to tangible transformation,’ she says. ‘We have seen the good and the bad of B-BBEE. Companies are spending millions of rands on empowerment, and they want to see change. When we recruit beneficiaries at Uthingo, our clients want to see them becoming suppliers and employers. When we do skills development, our clients want those learners to be absorbed in their companies. So do we. That’s the purpose of B-BBEE. It touches on every aspect of our economy.’

Uthingo is a proudly female-led SA business that aims to drive tangible change through its unique approach to empowerment. Inspired by the concept of the Rainbow Nation (Uthingo means ‘Rainbow’ in isiZulu), it helps its clients meet the needs of various elements of government’s BEE scorecard through its three core subsidiaries – Uthingo ESD, Uthingo ST and Uthingo SED.

ENTERPRISE AND SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT
Uthingo ESD focuses on enterprise and supplier development, divided into three parts (enterprise development; supplier development; and preferential procurement), with a heavy focus on small businesses.

‘Companies that make more than R50 million a year are required to spend a percentage of their net profit after tax on enterprise development, contributing to small, black-owned businesses that are not within their supply chain; and supplier development, for small black-owned businesses that are within their supply chain,’ explains Selepe. ‘We facilitate the process of managing those grants. We recruit qualifying benefi-ciaries, doing a SWOT analysis to gain an insight into their current standing and to identify the gaps in their business.’

However, instead of simply passing money to those beneficiary SMEs from its clients, Uthingo ESD funds initiatives that help the beneficiaries grow. ‘For example, we often find that small businesses struggle with their books,’ says Selepe. ‘In that case, we’ll appoint an accounting firm to help them get their books together properly. If they need equipment, we’ll purchase equipment for them. The most important thing – especially for businesses that come from a township, as I do – is to help them become sustainable so that they can employ people.’

Uthingo ESD is highly strategic about how it recruits its beneficiaries, ensuring that each enterprise is positioned to ultimately become a supplier to Uthingo’s clients and that the enterprise is able to create jobs. ‘This is a vital part of understanding the spirit of the B-BBEE codes,’ says Selepe.

SKILLS TRANSFER
Uthingo ST focuses on skills transfer and coaching within the spheres of legal and compliance; risk management; financial well-being; and business concepts.

‘We take the beneficiary into incubation, where we teach them the legal requirements of running a business in South Africa,’ says Selepe. ‘We’ll show them what the risks are, and how to identify, mitigate and manage those risks. We’ve found that some beneficiaries will land big accounts, but they don’t have contracts with their own employees. That’s the sort of practical thing that we’ll look at.’

Leadership is an important aspect of this skills transfer and coaching. ‘We work closely with the beneficiary entrepreneurs, getting to the heart of how you run a business,’ says Selepe. ‘Once you know want kind of leader you are, you’re then able to recruit the kinds of people who will complement your leadership style. Focusing on those principles helps to ensure that the small businesses we work with really do thrive.’

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Finally, Uthingo SED focuses on socio-economic development, which is another key element of the BEE scorecard. ‘Most people refer to this as CSI,’ she explains. ‘What we’ve done here is partner with Curro Schools to provide underprivileged learners from townships across South Africa with a holistic education. These are young people who are academically successful, but who also have the grit to thrive in a corporate environment. Our clients are required to spend a percentage of their profits on socio-economic development, so we use those funds to cover the learners’ school fees, transport, food, uniforms, textbooks and so on.’

Uthingo employs the services of child psychologists and mindset coaches to assist children with the transition of schools. ‘This intervention focuses on the psychological aspect of blending into a Curro school from a township school, and it’s aimed at ensuring that the learner really does thrive in their new environment,’ she says. Uthingo SD manages its clients’ grants in line with their SED targets, providing regular progress reports on how the learner is performing, along with academic reports at the end of the school year.

WALKING THE TALK
Uthingo is deliberate about providing a holistic solution to its beneficiaries, while ensuring the integrity of its clients’ BEE work. ‘We touch on all aspects of South African society, from small businesses to youth unemployment to education to community impact initiatives,’ says Selepe. ‘But what’s most important is that we adopt B-BBEE and transformation practices in our own business as well.’

To that end, Uthingo is a 51% black female-owned Level 2 empowerment business incubator. Selepe and her leadership team ensure that empowerment and development are a core part of the company culture.

Uthingo values their employees and feels strongly about developing their employees, not only in their current field, but in any field where they feel they would add more value to the business. ‘We don’t want our employees getting stuck in one position forever and becoming demotivated,’ says Selepe. ‘What we do want is people who have a full-circle understanding of our business, so we’ll look to move people between departments.’

Uthingo believes in empowering individuals, businesses and communities in order to effect change through the entire economic system – starting in their own business. ‘That’s what empowerment looks like,’ says Selepe. ‘And empowerment should be part of the culture in every South African business… including our own.’

+27 (0)63 316 3400
[email protected]
www.uthingoholdings.co.za