The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in Gauteng has noted with dismay the flouting of good corporate governance practices by Santam Insurance Company in appointing a major service provider as its senior procurement consultant.
It has come to our attention that Santam Insurance has appointed one of its primary suppliers, Mr Filum Ho, a Taiwanese national, as its senior procurement consultant, further to this, there has been a proposal by Santam to also exclusively use his technologies and services through the companies he owns. The insurance company is proposing to solely use Mr. Ho who is the owner of Auto Boys and Apollo Studio, which is the company that owns Partsmart, GT Motive and a co-owner of Carscan.
The Federation is concerned about these existing and conflicting interests that are tantamount to barriers of entry and gatekeeping to SMMEs, not to mention the impact this will have on the economy and jobs.
Implementation of this neo-liberal procurement policy that is aimed at creating a monopoly whereby profit margins in the Motor Body Repair Industry will effectively benefit one individual, will undermine even the transformation agenda currently underway. This, if implemented will result in reduced profit margins for panel beating businesses and inevitably lead to mass job losses in an industry that currently employs 45 000 artisans.
Publicly listed companies have a responsibility to advance societal interests beyond mere profit maximisation, demonstrating willingness to fulfil their corporate social responsibility. With South Africa’s unemployment rate currently at 42%, no organisation should be allowed to conduct their business in a manner that will exacerbate these dire statistics and conditions.
As things stand, SMMEs in this industry have been crying foul that they are being shutout from benefiting from the multibillion-rand RT46 tender for the repair and maintenance of government vehicles. The Automotive Aftermarket Association Forum (AAAF) has warned that more than 162 000 jobs are on the line, because these SMMEs invested heavily in equipment and machinery anticipating they would share in the work flowing from this tender. AAAF alleges established industry players are keeping all the work for themselves.
Our struggle as a Federation is a class struggle. We remain biased and supportive to the poor working class and the unemployed. As such we are not going to remain silent when private sector companies are conducting business in an anti-worker, anti-competitive and lawless fashion. We will equally formalise a sustainable program of action directed at the Motor Body Repair industry, geared towards halting these corrupt practices.
