Introduction

 
Last year’s sustainable development report consolidated the company’s input on transformation under a special section to enable shareholders and other interested parties to gain a more holistic view of the company’s commitment and performance. Feedback from shareholders was that this layout enabled an easier grasp of the company’s commitment to and achievements in B-BBEE and therefore, this year’s report follows the same format.

B-BBEE is a defined and managed focus area within the company and strategies are in place to give impetus to specific areas that have been identified. We constantly monitor our progress and benchmark ourselves against best practice both within the hospitality industry and more broadly within industry in South Africa generally.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
Sun International was ranked the 20th most empowered company of the Top 200 JSE listed companies in the Financial Survey rating by EmpowerDex. 
  Score achieved by Sun International in each of the elements of the BEE scorecard: 
 
Category BEE score target SI score
Ownership 20 21.7
Management 10 2.4
Employment Equity 15 5.9
Skills Development 15 7.9
Preferential Procurement 20 11.3
Enterprise Development 15 15.0
Socio-economic Development 5 5.0
Overall 100 69.2
  Source: EmpowerDex, Financial Mail
Eligible employees continue to benefit from the Employee Share Trust through bi-annual distributions in October and April. Total distribution for the financial year amounted to some R30 898 099, or R3 983 per employee. 
Establishment and registration of the Sun International Community Development Trust: The group’s corporate social investment strategy remains focused on expenditure in the areas of education, health, welfare and cultural activities. Initiatives are motivated at operational level and channelled through this trust. 
Total CSI investment reaches R26 million: In tackling the many social development challenges presented by each of the focus areas, the group invested R26 million in the 2009 financial year. 
Impact assessment of flagship projects shows high impact: An externally conducted impact assessment on some of the company’s flagship projects clearly illustrated the socio-economic impact they have had on intended beneficiaries. 
 
Since its establishment in 2003, the Trust has enabled employees to share in the benefits of the good performance of the group, empowering our people and encouraging a spirit of ownership. 
 
The members of CASA decided in June 2006 to proceed with an industry survey which would eventually lead to standardised and verified certification in line with the prevailing Codes of Good Practice to effectively measure each casino in line with B-BBEE.

The first stage of the process is now complete, which involved the identification of a benchmark of where each casino currently stands with regard to B-BBEE. EmpowerDex, which was appointed to conduct this survey on a company specific basis for each CASA member company, is still in the process of this evaluation. The final report would incorporate five phases of Assessment, Information Solicitation, Analysis, Review and Reporting.

In February 2007, the latest Codes of Good Practice for B-BBEE was enacted by Parliament. In June 2007, the Department of Trade and Industry then issued the Interpretive Guidelines for the Codes to enable industry to apply the Codes consistently and within the spirit of its intent.

Given the amendments in the Codes, and the degree to which some aspects have changed, it was a challenge to complete the exercise to at least get an indication of the B-BBEE status within the individual casinos, although this is the first step in an ongoing process. This first feedback is a benchmark of where the industry stands and it is the agreed intention of CASA for each casino to achieve a level 4 status by 2010.