Shirley Machaba: The importance of Transformation, Diversity and Inclusion - Transcript

Everything that we do at PwC is based on our purpose, which is ‘to build trust in society and solve important problems’ and the strong foundation of our core values and our code of conduct.

These values are what our culture is based on, and are expected from each of our people, every day. Transformation, diversity and inclusion are all integral to this PwC culture, and are woven throughout our very fabric, touching all areas of our firm, 

Our focus is on providing opportunities for people to grow throughout their time with the firm, from offering bursaries, supporting them through mentorship and development programmes, and developing and nurturing their potential. It’s about growing our firm’s future leaders in an environment that enables them to flourish.

We invest significantly in formal and experiential learning and development initiatives with intentional focus on the development of African, Coloured and Indian, or ACI staff. For the past five years, the Association for The Advancement of Black Accountants of South Africa has recognised PwC for qualifying the largest number of historically disadvantaged CAs annually. 

And it’s not only about the individuals who join our firm. It’s about supporting their communities, as well as those in which we operate. Our corporate responsibility focus areas continue to be education, pro bono services and supporting entrepreneurs, and in this past year we’ve spent some R27 million rand in these areas. During COVID-19, many of our corporate responsibility initiatives, as well as societal impact support, have focused on alleviating some of the challenges brought about by the pandemic. 

When it comes to management, we aspire to develop our leadership from within. Our Governing Board is 50% ACI, with 30% being women. Our South Market Africa Leadership Team is 50% ACI, with 50% being women. We have steadily grown our ACI ownership to 33% in 2020. ACI female ownership is currently at 11.36% in 2020.  

Our most direct form of support to economic transformation is through our Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) Programme. This programme, built on the foundation of the firm's core skills, combines financial and technical support to entrepreneurs. During the year under review we continued to help small businesses grow, by drawing on our expertise (and that of external partners) to assist small, medium and micro-sized enterprises. Apart from contributing to economic transformation, this approach has enabled us to develop a potential pipeline of new business for the firm. 

Diversity is one of the cornerstones of our firm, and our various networks ensure that the diverse nature of our people is supported, encouraged and celebrated. Transformation takes many forms, one of which is gender equality. In South Africa the diversity and inclusion space is not without its challenges. Our stats tell us that we are making strong progress but we can improve. Whilst a lot has changed over the years on our continent, gender equality is an area in which we - like the rest of the world – can improve. At PwC, we don’t only limit this to our own people. Our Faranani Rural Women’s Training programme for example, has proudly contributed to the empowerment and advancement of over 3 500 women. This programme is aimed at training rural women in business skills for them to alleviate poverty, inequality and unemployment while contributing to the South African economy.

For any firm operating in South Africa, a commitment to transformation is a licence to operate. While driven by legislation, for us it’s about far more than that. It’s about ensuring that our firm is staffed by people who are representative of our country’s demographics, each bringing a unique perspective that reflects the PwC culture.

Our integrated report tells the story of how our greatest strength lies in the diverse nature of our people.