|
reform guide in black and white
Date : 31/08/2007 A South African consulting group operating in Australia is finding local financial and technical expertise invaluable in its role helping South African government agencies improve their administrative and business processes. The IQ Business Group, headed by group chief executive officer Dirk Ackerman, runs programs for black economic empowerment, an accelerated program of affirmative action for South Africa s black majority population. An example of an Australian role model is superannuation know how. “We South Africans are very envious of what the Australian government provides for its social landscape, one of the best environments for people in the world,” Mr. Ackerman said. “We want to use the Australian expertise to rethink the South African retirement system.” A forthcoming issue for South Africa is pending transfers of farm ownership to historically disadvantaged black groups. “What we suggested to our Department of Agriculture is that instead of having lots of inspectors for compliance in transfer of ownership, they should train 360 of their staff in basic project management and business skills pertinent to agriculture,” Mr. Ackerman said. “When land starts to be redistributed, they’ll be ready. What we don’t want is what happened in Zimbabwe. If you fly over that country, you’ll see the wrecks of farm tractors which were used for local transport, for which they are not suitable. Irrigation pipes were ripped out and sold for scrap.” A mass influx of starving refugees from Zimbabwe has strained South Africa s Home Affairs Department, for which IQ Business Group has just done some work. “We had to upgrade IT and redo process engineering, provide training for about 1500 staff, also hire additional staff,” he said. “We get refugees from as far a field as Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, South Africa being a very prosperous economy, with a 5 per cent growth rate, there s a resources boom, a retail boom, a huge boom in construction and infrastructure.” Another issue is minimising graft in distribution of basic 50-60 square metre houses to black citizens as a gift, at a rate of 50,000 to 60,000 units a month. Complex central government controls seek to deter local municipalities from diverting allocations to political mates. The IQ Business Group also hopes to apply South African experience here. “I’m very excited about our opportunities in Australia on anti - money laundering, he said. Your legislation is very similar to ours. The trick in South Africa was to ensure processes were sorted out and staff were appropriately trained. We saw many institutions spending huge amounts on fancy consulting which came to nought.” Christopher Jay The Australian Financial Review
|