Lizeka Mda
The government may be laughing all the way to the bank after snagging R819-million from the Aeroporti di Roma for a 20% stake in the Airports Company, but some company employees are unhappy.
Black managers at the company say the strategic equity partner in the partial privatisation of the Airports Company was acquired at the expense of the company’s transformation.
They charge that “there is a lack of transparency in the key appointments to senior management positions, and that white males keep getting appointed to key management positions understood to be earmarked for black appointments”.
Many of the problems are articulated in a document prepared last November by Sipho Sithole, then assistant general manager for strategic planning and industrial relations, who headed the company’s transformation committee.
“The undermining of the transformation programme,” charges Sithole in the document, “has been seen through in filling of key positions in the company with complete disregard for existence of [the transformation] committee as no proper consultation ever took place.
“The continued lack of transparency with regard to these appointments is a display of outright undermining of the transformation programme. It is safe to say that there has never been any meaningful and genuine transformation at [the Airports Company].”
It is also alleged that these appointments have gone to friends of the managing director, Dirk Ackerman. The simmering anger of black managers boiled over when Justin Williamson was appointed finance general manager last October.
Williamson, a chartered accountant, had worked for Ackerman’s father when he was chair of security group Chubb.
Ackerman says Williamson was appointed after the company could not find a suitable black person for the position.
“[Williamson’s appointment] was not made by myself,” he says, “but by the human resources committee, a subcommittee of the board.”
Black managers say Williamson’s appointment is part of a pattern that undermines affirmative action at the Airports Company, and followed the appointment of Kevin Cockcroft, general manager, asset management; Jon Heeger, group manager, projects; Kevin Schroeder, group manager, retail; and Wimpie van Aswagen, group manager, finance.
“There is a stated policy that the company has to meet certain affirmative action targets,” responds Ackerman. “That policy was followed to the letter.”
But he does not deny these positions were not advertised, or that all the managers are known to him.
Sithole continues: “The recent spate of appointments has also seen the undermining of key managers who have, over the years, exerted a lot of energy and time to turn this company around – long before the new kids on the block came to chase shares at Airports Company.”
The share option has increased tensions at the company. The government is going to sell 10% to empowerment investors, another 10% to the National Empowerment Fund and 9% to the company’s 1 700 employees.
The steering committee of the Airports Company’s restructuring committee, with representation from the transport and public enterprises departments, as well as labour and management, recommended the 9% be split 2,45:6,55 between senior management and staff.
The black managers say this is a perpetuation of discriminatory practices because only 63 of the 1 700 staff are senior managers, and more than 90% of those are white. They say the shares should be shared equally among all staff.
“There are not enough blacks and females in the higher echelons,” says a staff member. “There is only one black general manager. We don’t think the company is transformed enough for white males to benefit exclusively. They haven’t done anything to deserve it. Instead, they are the ones who do everything to frustrate the transformation of the company.”
Ackerman says he is not aware of any dissent among black managers regarding the share split.
Khetso Gordhan, director general of the Department of Transport and co-chair of the steering committee of the Airports Company’s restructuring committee, says if anyone is to be blamed for the split it is labour, because they came up with the proposal.
“Labour were much more generous than the government was willing to be,” says Gordhan. “One of their preconditions for the strategic equity partner was that the current management should be retained. They said they were very satisfied with the current management policies and philosophies.”
A delegation of black managers took their concerns about the lack of transformation at the company to Gordhan late last year. He attended to their grievances immediately and brought in Minister of Transport Mac Maharaj and the board. The transformation committee was disbanded and replaced by a subcommittee of the board.
The Department of Transport is happy with Ackerman. Since taking the company’s reins in September 1995, profits have multiplied from around R60-million to about R370- million.
“Dirk Ackerman is an extremely capable and energetic manager,” says Gordhan. “As far as the department is concerned, he does a bloody good job running the Airports Company of South Africa.”