Page 7 - Logistics News - December 2021

TH O UGHT LEAD ERS HIP

How do we create opportunities for young job seekers an appealing option. With a laptop and Internet
in South Africa? connection, people in Rustenburg, Estcourt and
Langebaan can service projects anywhere. And,
Sending your procurement spend in the right because the cost of living is substantially lower in
direction outlying towns, there are cost-saving advantages to
In my 20 years in the procurement industry, I’ve rural sourcing too. Why should we drive people from
noticed that the big organisations we assist have Joburg or Pretoria to service a mine in Middelburg?
around 3,000 vendors on their books, but 80 percent Surely businesses in that community would benefit
of their spend goes to 100 suppliers. Why is that? In from doing the job themselves?
some cases, it’s in the interest of speed and efficiency.
But how will we grow our economy if the same few Now, if there’s a project in the Midlands, let’s
names continue to dominate the market? ask the big-name vendor not only to help develop 10
smaller players as part of the job, but to make sure
At Dante Deo, we’ve been doing things a bit that those small players are within a 50km radius
differently. When we work with the big-name vendors, from where the project is based. That way, we’re
we award contracts – worth millions of rands – on building small sustainable businesses, increasing
condition that they agree to employ and develop job opportunities and developing skills in previously
smaller players in the market. neglected communities. If that isn’t a win, win, win, I
don’t know what is.
This doesn’t just mean outsourcing 20 percent of
the job to small businesses – as government tenders In helping the youth, you’re helping yourself
stipulate – but leveraging that established and In 2016, Microsoft South Africa partnered with the
renowned company to make a real difference. In a city of Joburg to train one million citizens in digital
service integrator role, they could assist with practical literacy. An indirect benefit of this was that they
skills training as well as help take a small business probably also increased the number of Microsoft
from good to great. I want to see big players leading licence users. This is what companies should realise:
and developing smaller players, building everything Solutions like internships, innovative procurement
from practical skills to sound finance and marketing and active rural sourcing have the potential to change
departments. Because, in my experience, that’s often the lives of South Africa’s youth and significantly
where small businesses fall short. They offer a good increase your bottom line. The youth of today will be
service, but don’t have the knowledge or experience the consumers of tomorrow, and if they’re going to
to run a business. With a bit of help, they could start buy your product one day, they need your help now.
hiring their own accountants, tax experts, operations
managers and HR teams, which will create job We don’t need to rely on government to incentivise
opportunities and open up the market to more than a strategies like this; we should be pursuing them because
handful of vendors. they are right for the economy, and right for business.
Let’s let government focus on building infrastructure,
Why rural sourcing deserves the spotlight improving network connections, providing proper roads,
Initially, those of us in procurement were excited sanitation and rubbish removal, and let businesses do
about outsourcing. Then, when international fees what they do best – grow. As business leaders, we should
became too high, the trend towards near-sourcing focus on productivity, output and growth, three key
emerged. Now, with COVID-19 proving that we ingredients to economic activity. Hopefully, we’ll pass L O GI S T I CS NEWS
don’t need to be in offices or even city centres to be the recipe down to future leaders so they can confidently
productive, rural sourcing or onshoring has become take South Africa’s economy into the future. •

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