Transformation, diversity and inclusion

GRoup of PwC professionals

 

This holistic approach to the fundamental objectives of the act has allowed us to enable inclusive economic participation.

 

PwC recognises the central role our people have played in our transformation journey.

Transformation remains a priority in our firm and we have gained strategic insights into how to make a broad impact. Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment redresses the inequality inherent in South African society and we have developed a strategy that goes beyond business and also makes a valuable contribution to education and society.

Our strategy has placed priority and focus on advancing diversity and inclusion. We are particularly proud of how this is evident in the composition of our executive structures within the firm and the impact we have made with women in business.

We invest in young black talent through a number of programmes and initiatives. One of which is our annual Youth Seminar which aims to prepare young graduates with the tools to enter the workplace. A second initiative is the sponsorship of 60 ACI disabled youth towards the completion of an IT Learnership.

 

PwC South Africa CEO Shirley Machaba

Watch PwC South Africa CEO Shirley Machaba discuss the importance of being a firm that values transformation, diversity and inclusion.

Duration: 00:05:23

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The diversity of our firm contributes to its growth in various ways. PwC’s goal is to achieve a staff profile reflective of the demographics of South Africa and to achieve equality in the workplace. We will accomplish this goal by focusing on our talent management and succession planning. To accelerate our transformation agenda, we have committed to ensuring that a minimum of 50% of new associates and new recruits are ACI candidates. The firm has also implemented tailored development programmes to accelerate development of ACI talent in line with the firm’s ACI retention plans. PwC South Africa employs 5 225 permanent people, including partners, of whom 56% are ACI. Fifty-seven percent of staff are women, 34% of all staff are ACI women.

 

Transformation and our People

We aspire to develop our leadership from within. The Governing Board is 50% ACI, with 30% being women. Our South Market Africa Leadership Team (SMALT) is 50% ACI, with 50% being women. The following positions are currently held by ACI individuals on the Management Committee of PwC South Africa: 

  • Shirley Machaba - CEO.
  • Anastacia Tshesane - Transformation, Diversity and Inclusion Leader.
  • Jabu Masondo - Tax Line of Service Leader.
  • Kalane Rampai - Consulting Leader.

We have steadily grown our ACI ownership to 33% in 2020. ACI female ownership is currently at 11.36% and female ownership is at 26,92% in 2020. 

B-BBEE scorecard
B-BBEE scorecard

Skills development 

PwC is registered for skills development purposes to the Finance and Accounting Services Sector Education and Training Authority (FASSET). We are well aligned to FASSET’s strategy and sector skills plan to improve skills development in South Africa. By submitting the annual mandatory grant with prescribed information on our employees, training implemented during the year and our Work Skills Plan, we secured our mandatory and discretionary grants for 2019/2020.

The discretionary grants received from FASSET consist of grants for employees placed on learnerships, internships, bursary students and employees that we placed into permanent employment. Grants in excess of R16 million were directly utilised in the further development of our employees and bursary students. We are making a significant contribution to developing people in areas that were identified as scarce skills in South Africa.

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

In line with our purpose, we have invested in several initiatives to nurture future leaders. Our Foundation for the Future programme exposes talented young graduates to various operational disciplines within our Advisory line of service and provides them with opportunities to be mentored by directors and senior managers. 

 

The firm invested R17.8 million in bursaries in 2020. Of this, 81% was directed to ACI individuals. Over the past 17 years, a total of R245 million has been invested in learnership programmes, which have qualified more than 2 600 CAs from historically disadvantaged communities.

 

Economic Transformation

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 help transform the economic catalysts, namely the daring entrepreneurs.  We have recognised that support to entrepreneurs to address the daily challenges they face enables them to fulfil the anticipation of innovation and job creation as they experience growth and stability.  Walking that journey with our beneficiaries makes us proud to be a part of the journey of economic emancipation of our communities.'   

We focus on increasing spend with black-owned and black-female-owned businesses. More than 80% of our procurement is channelled towards entities that embrace BBBEE and have a valid BBBEE scorecard. 

 

PwC professionals shaking hands

Enterprise and supplier development
During the year under review we continued to help small businesses grow, by drawing on our expertise (and those of external partners) to assist small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs). Apart from contributing to economic transformation, this approach has enabled us to develop a potential pipeline of new business for the firm.

For more information, visit the Our societal purpose section.


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 Rianté Padayachee

Rianté Padayachee

Media and Communications Specialist, PwC South Africa

Tel: +27 (0) 11 797 5727

Verena Koobair

Verena Koobair

Integrated Content Lead, PwC South Africa

Tel: +27 (0) 11 797 4873

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