As a committed equal opportunity employer, Lithotech promotes the development and empowerment of previously disadvantaged employees within the company by elevating these members of our staff to more highly-skilled jobs and management positions, as well as introducing them to the concepts of entrepreneurship and business ownership.

Our aim is to improve our employees’ education and training, which also includes assisting people with disabilities. This has led to the successful development of learnership programmes, resulting in permanent employment for the disabled.

Local content, an important aspect in the reconstruction and development of South Africa, constitutes approximately 90% of all our non-equipment requirements, such as labour, equipment maintenance, paper and ink. This commitment is complemented by our preferential procurement policy, which entails sourcing discretionary purchases from black economic empowered entities.

Lithotech is committed to the creation of wealth, employment equity and skills development. This has led to the company establishing successful and sustainable joint ventures with black economic empowerment partners who remain active in the day-to-day management of their businesses. This commitment delivers real meaning to the transformation process.

Lithotech empowerment facts:

• Lithotech is wholly-owned by Bidvest Group Limited, and therefore shares Bidvest’s empowerment status.
• Phakama Print (Phakama meaning rising, progressing and reaching the top) is Lithotech’s own empowerment initiative, with 40% of shares held by Lithotech, and 60% by the Lithotech Employees’ Trust.
• Lithotech meets the Department of Trade and Industry’s definition of broad-based black economic empowerment and has been rated by EmpowerDEX, a recognised independent verification agency, as a black-empowered entity, a good broad-based BEE contributor, and as having unconstrained operational capacity.
• One of Bidvest’s joint ventures with BEE partners is Dinatla’s acquisition of a 15% shareholding in the group. Dinatla is a broad-based empowerment entity owned by a consortium of prominent entrepreneurial black-owned businesses that is fully representative of the operational diversity of the Bidvest Group across all provinces in South Africa.
• On the 6th of July 2004, Cyril Ramaphosa was appointed non-executive chairman of Bidvest. His extensive experience in South African civil society and the business sector is expected to add significant value to the Bidvest Board of Directors.
• Bidvest’s BEE shareholding is as follows:
  • Legal BEE ownership: 35.8%
  • Flow of economic benefits: 28.4%