Much Asphalt, together with subsidiaries Spray Pave and East Coast Asphalt, has been certified as a B-BBEE Level 1 Contributor against the Amended Construction Sector Code, with effect from 12 November 2018.
In mid-2017 Much was a Level 7 Contributor and the rapid improvement to Level 1 can be attributed to co-operation between a dedicated transformation champion and a supportive management team. The acquisition of Much Asphalt by the AECI Group has also positively impacted this result.
Ayesha Isaacs joined the company as its first transformation champion on 15 June 2017. “Within less than a year we moved up to Level 4. The acquisition of Much by AECI in early 2018 pushed us up to Level 3 in line with AECI’s empowerment credentials,” says Isaacs.
“In preparing for our audit against the new Construction Sector Code, we aimed to retain a high compliance score without making token investments in transformation,” she adds. “Much Asphalt has taken the approach that without meaningful transformation we will not thrive and so we are continually pushing for improvements that will benefit the Much group and its customers.
“Our most important achievement as a company has been understanding that the market wants to do business with B-BBEE compliant suppliers. Everyone at Much knows the importance of this and our efforts to transform are backed by a leadership team that advocates the need for change.”
In part due to its acquisition by AECI, Much Asphalt is 81.27% black-owned with black board participation of 57.14%.
“Achieving our goals in the Employment Equity, Enterprise and Supplier Development and Skills Development components of the B-BBEE Code was the most challenging in terms of time management,” says Isaacs. “Planning and implementation are key to success. A lot of detail goes into these elements and cooperation from everyone across the company is fundamental to achieving the required outcomes.” Much Asphalt offers several learnerships and bursaries aimed at filling skills gaps and creating promotion opportunities for staff. The company also provides free courses in hand laid asphalt for emerging contractors. Not only does this help them to tender successfully for municipal projects and to do the work correctly, but it also drives the development of SMMEs and the provision of better roads.
Isaacs adds that although Much diversifies its Socio-Economic Development spend, it is focusing increasingly on supporting improvements in education as the key enabler to economic development.
