South Africa’s unemployment rate is down to 26,7% in the fourth quarter of 2017, from 27,7% in the third quarter. A Stats SA report also explained that South Africa’s working-age population, 15 to 64 years, is rising as a share of the country’s total population. This while the working-age population ratio is peaking at about 65% of the total population, up from 57% in 1985.
Although the unemployment rate has improved, job creation remains high on the agenda of government and the private sector. Investing in entrepreneurship development is one of the routes that Samsung followed to turn the tide on unemployment.
Justin Hume, chief marketing officer at Samsung, says: “At Samsung, we believe we have significant social and economic responsibilities to communities. So being a Global Citizen means we will create positive change for people everywhere, helping them to live better lives.”
It is with this in mind that Samsung established its Khulanathi Supplier Development Programme. This endeavour has seen businesses being established and placed in an incubation process for three years. One of these companies, Rec-Pro Administration Services, a Level 1 BEE business owned solely by women, delivers administration services to Samsung.
The four women – Loshni Naidoo, Claudelle Chetty, Lydia de Villiers and Lindah Nicholson – all worked directly for Samsung before the business was established. They expressed excitement and gratitude when talking about what the future may hold.
“We are equal owners and we have been trained to run our business efficiently and effectively. Once the incubation period is over later this year, we plan to extend the business by creating more jobs in the recruitment and administration field,” says Naidoo.
Another such business is MMT Logistics. MMT owes its name to the initials of its three directors, Joel Morake, Frans Molaiwa and Habakuk Thipe, who all worked directly for Samsung before being approached to start their own business. This business is responsible for the transport of Samsung’s top executives.
Aside from providing transport to Samsung’s top brass, they have extended their enterprise to include a small fleet of vehicles for public transport. They have also employed an administration person and a driver, bringing their workforce to a total of five.
Molaiwa comments: “Running your own enterprise is not always easy, but we have learnt a lot and look forward to expanding even further.”
“For Samsung, the benefits of empowering small businesses include delivering on our goal to develop local enterprises, as well as possibly receiving even better service delivery,” Hume adds. “At Samsung we are proud to be associated with this initiative and the responsibility we, as an organisation, have towards it.”