The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is not impressed with the two black economic empowerment (BEE) deals to come out of Altech in the last week, calling them "narrow-based".
The statement comes after Altech last night announced a second BEE deal, this time with former justice minister Dr Penuell Maduna.
In a notice to shareholders, the JSE-listed diversified ICT company said it had successfully approached Platina Venture Holdings, a consortium led by Maduna, to become its BEE equity partner on its Altech Alcom Matomo subsidiary. Neither the price nor the stake was revealed.
The deal follows a similar arrangement announced last Friday, with a consortium led by former Eskom chief Dr Enos Banda, in the fleet management division of Altech Netstar.
Following the herd
This morning Cosatu's national spokesman Patrick Craven criticised the deals for following the market trend of only benefiting a few players.
"This appears to be yet another example of narrow-based empowerment, with absolutely nothing done to benefit the workers or the communities in which the company operates.
"We would like to reiterate that BEE deals, in general, have done very little to benefit the formerly-disadvantaged and we continue to press for different types of deals to be concluded which actually benefit those who have been disadvantaged," he says.
This is not the first time a union has criticised an ICT company's BEE initiative. Earlier this year, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) - a Cosatu affiliate - threatened Reunert with industrial action should its R1.1 billion BEE deal with Rebatona Investment Holdings not be called off.
At the time, Numsa's national information officer Mziwakhe Hlangani said the organisation wanted to see disempowered workers getting a fair share in the transaction, "rather than distributing them to the filthy rich four businesswomen".
Good deal for workers
However, Maduna denies the deal does not benefit workers.
In an exclusive interview with ITWeb this morning, Maduna explained the deal saw around 30% of Altech Alcom Matomo moved into the hands of the previously-disadvantaged, including the workforce.
"The deal does benefit workers; 5% of the stake will go to employees for nothing, for gratis. I'm satisfied the workers - who are putting nothing into the deal - are receiving a good deal. It is not fair for anyone to suggest otherwise."
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