History of BEE
An enterprise-wide BEE charter (the Bidvest Charter, refer 3.1.3. below) was drafted in November 2003 even before finalisation of The Bidvest Group Limited’s partnership with the Dinatla black empowerment consortium. This BEE transaction was concluded in December 2003.
By October 2004, The Bidvest Group Limited had become one of the few JSE listed groups to receive an ‘A’ rating from Empowerdex, the well-respected independent BEE rating agency. The rating confirmed that The Bidvest Group Limited is a broad-based BEE contributor with unrestricted operational capacity and impeccable BEE credentials. The Bidvest Group Limited currently has an Empowerdex rating of B level 5. The Bidvest Group Limited’s legal BEE ownership, calculated in accordance with the new revised BEE codes in SA as promulgated in February 2007, is 26.7% while ownership by black women stands at 13.7%.
The Bidvest Charter sets out a process that has to be monitored, measured and driven. The drive comes from the upper echelons of the company. The Bidvest Group Limited Board has established a transformation committee to oversee the application of BEE policy within The Bidvest Group Limited in South Africa.
A BEE scorecard approach has been adopted. Reaching BEE targets has become a key benchmark in the performance measurement of all line managers in South Africa.