The date of the 18th of July has been adopted by the international community as Nelson Mandela International Day. In South Africa, we have the opportunity to take this one step further by embracing the aims of the Mandela Day movement and incorporating this within our Socio-Economic Development (SED) strategies. We can all make a difference and companies embracing this idea can, through their collective effort, truly change our country. Mandela Day is not a holiday, but rather it is a day for all of us to opt into humanity – to roll up our sleeves and play an active role in building our communities. This is an opportunity for each of us to share Nelson Mandela’s vision of a better future for all.

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others” – Nelson Mandela

There are many objective’s of the Mandela Day movement but ultimately it seeks to empower communities everywhere. Specific goals that have been identified for 2019 – 2029 relate to the following categories:

• Education and Literacy
• Food and Nutrition
• Shelter
• Sanitation
• Active Citizenship

Socio-Economic Development (SED) contributions are any monetary or non-monetary contribution implemented for individuals (natural individual or group of natural individuals) or communities, where at least 75% of the beneficiaries are classified as black people in terms of race. QSEs and Generic Entities will be recognised with valuable points under the SED element for making these contributions towards the beneficiaries under the criteria. In terms of the BEE Codes of Good Practice, the objective of SED contributions is to assist in facilitating income generating activities. The initiatives can involve the following development programmes for females, youth people with disabilities and people living in rural areas; support of health care and HIV/AIDS programmes; support of education programmes, resources and materials at primary, secondary and tertiary education as well as bursaries and scholarships. Community training, skills development for unemployed people and adult basic education training or support of arts, cultural or sporting development programmes.   Join us for our upcoming BEE workshops: Lianne Friedman, our CEO, is hosting a full day workshop on BEE on the 18th of July in Johannesburg (Cape Town and Durban will be later dates, see below) that will assist you in preparing for financial year end, help obtain some much-needed points and prepare fully for verification.

• Title: Full Day BEE Workshop including the Amendments to the B-BBEE Codes
• Date: 18 July (JHB), 27 August (DBN), 09 October (CT)
• Duration: 09h00 to 17h00
• Price: R3 913.04 Excl VAT (50% discount for BEE Managed Service Clients)
• Venue: Johannesburg – 435 Rugby Avenue, Ferndale, Randburg, Durban – The Circle, Douglas Drive, Ballito, Cape Town – TBC

To book please email us on pheliswa@econobee.co.za or call us on 011 483 1190 For more information on the various workshops we hold, please visit https://econoservices.co.za/training-workshops-seminars/