Sustainability Report

VenFin’s three levels of corporate social responsibility were mentioned earlier and its obligation to shareholders was dealt with under Corporate Governance. In this section its responsibilities towards the community (to be a worthy citizen grateful of the goodwill received from the public) and to staff (to ensure that their work remains a meaningful and rewarding experience) receive attention.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

As far as its business and its community service programme are concerned, the Company strives to make a meaningful contribution, adding value to all stakeholders. Donations are usually made over a term to provide beneficiaries with a measure of security and are not spread over such a broad area that they become negligible.

In terms of this approach, the Company currently supports the following initiatives:

Entrepreneurship and training

Some years ago VenFin and its sister company Remgro granted a loan to the Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) to be used for the activities of the SA College for Tourism in Graaff-Reinet and the Southern African Wildlife College near the border of the Kruger National Park. Both colleges are involved in practical training and job creation.

SA College for Tourism – this college in Graaff-Reinet trains in particular young black women from previously disadvantaged communities for the hospitality industry. Since the establishment of the College in 2001, more than 100 women from the Southern African Development Community have been trained. Last year’s students came from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Subjects offered include: culinary arts, food and beverage studies, room and front-of-house services, guesthouse management as well as entrepreneurship. The students also gained experience at many big functions held throughout the year.

The College enjoys the support of prominent women in Southern Africa. In 2002 South Africa’s First Lady, Mrs Zanele Mbeki, officially opened the College, while Mrs Barbara Mogae, First Lady of Botswana, delivered the keynote address at last year’s graduation ceremony.

Southern African Wildlife College – trains students from many countries in Southern Africa as well as from other parts of Africa in nature conservation management. The College, situated near Hoedspruit, also attends to other aspects of human development. Courses are presented in communication and computer skills, office and basic financial management, tourism management and human resources management, to mention only a few. PPF and WWF-SA are jointly responsible for the management of the College.

Although the College is not a charity organisation, it strives to cultivate a conservation ethic within the community through its involvement in initiatives such as the maintenance of a borehole, support of a local bakery, assistance rendered to a crèche, empowerment courses for women and fundraising for a local clinic.

SciMathUS – this post-matric programme from the Institute for Mathematics and Science Teaching at the University of Stellenbosch reaches an important milestone this year when students from the first class in 2001 will graduate from the University of Stellenbosch and from other Western Cape tertiary institutions. VenFin is a founder sponsor of the project.

The aim of the SciMathUS project is to give students from disadvantaged communities the opportunity to improve their matric results in subjects such as mathematics, science and accountancy in order to gain access to tertiary education. Last year all 64 students who rewrote these subjects qualified for mainstream tertiary education. On average, their 2004 results saw a 16% improvement for mathematics compared to their 2003 school results, 19% for physical science and 14% for accountancy.

Paul Roos Academy – The Academy, of which VenFin is a founder sponsor, is an imaginative project aimed at identifying leadership talent in disadvantaged schools. By providing tuition during holidays it helps these children to realise their full potential. The participating schools comprise five in Khayelitsha, Nyanga and Langa and seven farm schools in the Stellenbosch area.

In many respects 2004 was a year of firsts for the Academy. It was the first year that the organisers could see how many children would return after the completion of the school year; also the first year that girls gained access to the Academy; a year in which the relevance of the curriculum could be tested by offering it to a second group of learners; and the year in which a new curriculum had to be developed for the returning grade 8 learners.

Of the 61 learners who participated in the 2003 programme, 58 returned in 2004, surely proof of a positive experience of this learning initiative. For 2004, 40 boys and 40 girls were selected, but in the end only 72 of the grade 7 learners showed up. A total of 130 learners therefore received additional training last year.

Rally to Read – for the third consecutive year, VenFin has supported this outreach project aimed at improving the rate of literacy at some of the country’s most neglected schools. Since 1998 more than R12.5 million has been invested in this project to improve the quality of education. As part of the programme, off-road vehicles are used annually during May to deliver educational materials such as books and toys to some of the country’s poorest schools. This year, books valued at R2.5 million were donated, while a teacher development programme of at least R1.3 million was launched.

Independent research has shown that after a two-year READ input in a school, learners on average advance two years in reading skills and four years in writing skills.

University of Stellenbosch – VenFin has committed itself to making a contribution over three years to the US, one of the oldest universities in the country, to assist in processing its archive material.

Computer assistance – VenFin has continued its computer aid programme in the Stellenbosch/Helderberg area by donating computers to the Koelenhof RC Primary School and CommsCo, an associate of VenFin, has again assisted with the installation and maintenance of the computers. Since the start of this programme, some 40 computers have been installed in three previously disadvantaged schools. As an important player in the technological-driven economy, VenFin believes that access to modern teaching methods can help children who, for historic reasons have lagged behind, to bridge the gap to modern information technology.

Brightest Young Minds (BYM) – VenFin has sponsored the fifth annual conference of this imaginative initiative, the aim of which is to create a platform to showcase South Africa’s best emerging talent and to put their development on a fast track.

BYM believes that it takes exceptional people to conquer extraordinary challenges. Every year 100 bright and ambitious post-graduate and final-year students are selected by the Department of Economics and Management Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch and exposed to business leaders and the sponsoring organisations. The idea is to put them in an environment conducive to idea generation and the facilitation of possible initiatives.

Environment

WWF-SA – As a corporate member, VenFin supports the objectives of this conservation organisation. During the past year, WWF-SA has focused on redesigning itself and the way of tackling the complexity of the environment. As part of this reorganisation, conservation activities were grouped into distinct programmes that target specific aspects of the environment.

Highlights of the past year’s activities included the following:

Some 340 schools registered with the WWF-SA/WESSA (Wildlife & Environment Society of SA) Eco-Schools Programme of which 110 were awarded their green flags for 2004.
The exclusive Thonga Beach Lodge opened for business in August. As part of the Sappi/WWF TreeRoutes partnership, this innovative ecotourism venture provides jobs for the Mabibi community and will contribute to the conservation of the Maputaland Coastal Forest Reserve on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal.
The Mondi Wetlands Project, a freshwater conservation partnership between WESSA and WWF-SA, continues to rehabilitate wetlands, train extension officers and engage with local communities to strengthen wetland management around the country.
The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk, announced the proclamation of four new Marine Protected Areas. In July last year WWF presented the government with a Gift to the Earth award in support of this project.

Cultural development

Klein Karoo National Arts Festival – VenFin’s sponsorship of this festival has a strong community focus. This year, a group of talented children took part in street performances during the festival, while special performances were also held in Bongolethu. The latter was so successful that the organisers were at one stage asked to stop any further marketing!

The first winner of the VenFin/Remgro bursary for the development of a career in the arts was announced during the recent festival. Avigail Bushakovitz is a talented violinist who receives tuition from Prof Jack de Wet in Cape Town. The panel of judges described her as exceptionally talented and a violinist who has a bright future ahead of her.

Stellenbosch Music Festival – VenFin is a regular supporter of this event and sponsored the concert of the Sontonga String Quartet, one of the country’s leading string quartets, during the last festival. Young string players of development projects in Kayamandi, Hout Bay and Paarl attended the concert and this persuaded Sontonga to hold workshops for these children. When approached on short notice, the Company also agreed to bear the cost of the Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble whose sponsorship fell through at the last minute.

Sport development

SA Golf Development Board (SAGDB) – the promotion of golf amongst the youth in disadvantaged communities went from strength to strength during the fifth year of the SAGDB’s existence. During this period approximately 7 000 children between the ages of 7 – 18 years were introduced to the game through this initiative. Proof of the success of the programme has been the promotion of 11 players to join the “crème of the crop” in the Ernie Els Foundation.

Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West are the only provinces not yet involved in the golf project – an issue which will receive attention this year. VenFin and its sister company Remgro are responsible for the administrative costs of the SAGDB.

Western Cape Cricket Academy – VenFin has recently extended its joint sponsorship of the Cricket Academy for a further term of three years. The Academy is held in high esteem by the cricket fraternity and some 120 applications are received annually, of which only 36 can be approved. Since its inception in 1993, nine Academy players have played for South Africa and a further 16 for other national teams. Boland used 30 Academy players over the years in its provincial side and WP 22. The role of the Academy as seedbed for the southern provinces can clearly be deduced from these statistics.

Community development

Ikamva Labantu – when this welfare organisation in the black townships of Cape Town went through a very difficult phase, VenFin committed itself for an initial period of five years sponsoring a portion of its administrative costs.

Instead of spending most of its time on survival issues, Ikamva Labantu could, in the years that followed, focus its attention on innovative ways to reach target groups, appoint professional staff, and, rather than looking inward, could improve external communication and networking.

Ikamva Labantu’s focus remains on early childhood development, foster-care, youth development, the visually impaired, home-based care, frail care, health care, poverty alleviation as well as various other community programmes.

Health care

Wits/Donald Gordon Medical Centre – is being developed to build a teaching and research network in the private health care sector. It is modelled on well-known American academic hospitals such as the Mayo Clinic, Harvard’s Massachusets General Hospital and the Stanford University Hospital. VenFin has agreed to share a sponsorship to the centre of $1 million over ten years.

The need for such a facility has its origin in the government’s increased focus on primary and community health, which has resulted in tertiary hospitals increasingly having less resources available to fund medical posts. In addition, because of a widening of the salary gap between the private and the public sector, academic hospitals are no longer able to retain well qualified staff.

Organ Donor Foundation of SA – during the past year, the lives of approximately 500 people have been saved by organ transplantation. VenFin is grateful that it could make a small contribution to this end by co-sponsoring four flights for the transport of organs. The Company wishes to pay tribute to the aviation company Falconair and its staff for sacrifices made in this regard.

SERVICE COMPANY

M&I, controlled by Rembrandt Trust (Proprietary) Limited, renders management and support services to VenFin.

VenFin pays fees to M&I which cover the overhead costs of the management of VenFin. These fees are a maximum of 0.463% per year of the market capitalisation of VenFin, calculated on a monthly average basis. This percentage may not be exceeded without the approval of 75% of all classes of shareholders of VenFin. The fees for the past year are disclosed in note 13 to the annual financial statements.

GROUP ETHICS

VenFin’s commitment to ethical behaviour is contained in the following published documents:

Code of ethics
Code of conduct
Fraud prevention policy
Internet policy
Disciplinary code
Gifts and donations policy

The Board was responsible for the establishment and distribution of these documents with compliance being monitored by means of management structures, internal audit, and the group’s central forensic function including hotlines.

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY

M&I, the service company, in accordance with the Employment Equity Act, strives to afford all staff the opportunity to realise their full potential. A steering committee and various work groups, together with M&I’s management, are continuously involved in determining training and development needs and in the implementation and monitoring of a labour plan. Special attention is given to those groups which, because of historic reasons, might be in a disadvantaged position. In accordance with the requirements of the Employment Equity Act, M&I annually submits a labour plan to the Department of Labour.

Because of the nature of its operations, to provide inter alia core services to VenFin, M&I’s workforce is characterised by the following:

A high level of expertise within the top structure of the organisation and in various specialised divisions
A young employee profile, especially with regard to management
A low turnover rate of staff and, consequently, limited opportunities for new appointments

M&I believes that the quality of its staff affords it an important sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore it believes that its success does not lie in the uniformity of its staff but in the diversity and development of their collective talents. For these, space and opportunity will always be created.

Human resource policies and procedures also address the issues of non-discrimination, child labour, disciplinary practices, human rights et al.

SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT

The Company has a duly constituted safety and health committee, required by the Occupational Health and Safety Act. This committee assists the Board in ensuring that the Company provides and maintains a safe and healthy risk-free environment for staff and visitors by identifying risks and ensuring that controls designed to mitigate these risks are effective and complied with.

Most companies, based on their core activities, are deemed low-impact enterprises, as regards environmental exposure.

The Company benchmarks its current environmental practices against the criteria stipulated in the GLOBAL Reporting InitiativeTM (GRI) Framework, being:

Materials
Energy
Water
Biodiversity
Emissions, effluents and waste
Suppliers
Products and services
Compliance
Transport

Where deemed appropriate, usage and impact are being quantified and measured against best practices. Where appropriate, compliance with safety, health and environmental systems are measured against formal standard systems such as ISO and subject to independent review. Boards monitor capital projects aimed at reducing environmental usage, while increasing biodegradable recycling.

HIV/AIDS POLICY

During February 2003, the GRI published a resource document to serve as a reporting guideline on HIV/Aids. Because the GRI chose South Africa as the development area for this resource document, which will eventually become a technical protocol, VenFin chose it as its reporting standard on this matter.

From the perspective of an investment holding company, the risk of HIV/Aids comprises two elements, namely:

Group risk

Given the potential impact of HIV/Aids on the markets, on human capital cost of employment and on the operational processes of the various businesses invested in, this risk is managed within the governance structures of the various companies.

VenFin monitors the progress of these policies and strategies against best practice standards.

Company risk

VenFin and M&I have a formal HIV/Aids policy and are committed to managing the pandemic and the business risks associated with it actively. Its policy makes provision, inter alia, for the following:

Compliance with all legal requirements as far as HIV/Aids is concerned
No discrimination against employees or potential employees based on their HIV status
Strict confidential treatment of information on the HIV status of employees
General measures to prevent accidental infection

Remedi Medical Aid Scheme, of which most of M&I’s staff are members, has a management plan for HIV/Aids and employees can participate in it by choice.

COMMUNICATION TO STAKEHOLDERS

The Board places great emphasis on communication to shareholders and other stakeholders to ensure that they are kept appropriately informed on matters affecting the group. Financial reports and announcements, meetings with analysts and the VenFin website are used to provide relevant information to shareholders.

The group’s financial results are published in the financial media, to maximise its communication with smaller individual shareholders. Meetings with major shareholders and investment analysts follow the release of final results. Board members attend VenFin’s Annual General Meeting, to which all shareholders are invited.

VenFin is committed to transparency and disclosure of relevant and appropriate information in its Annual Report and through other communication channels to ensure a proper evaluation of the performance of the Company.