After five years of struggling to sustain itself, finally, ARCELLOR MITTAL South Africa, the country’s largest steel-maker, has accepted that, if it is to stay long in business, it has to comply with the government’s obligatory Black Economic Empowerment initiatives.
Since the abortive R9.1bn BEE deal in 2010, ARCELORMITTAL South Africa has been less enthusiastic to bring on board black economic empowerment stakeholders or participate in initiatives that could enhance its credentials. Now, with prospects of change in business fortunes not certain, mandated by its largest shareholders in London, ARCELORMITTAL South Africa has decided to revise its approach.
With the benefit of hindsight, Paul O’Flaherty, the CEO of ArcelorMittal SA, admitted that things could have been done better. “We are also doing really badly in terms of our black economic empowerment status. We need to change that if we want the government’s assistance. Our suppliers also suffer because we don’t have adequate BEE levels,” he said, as quoted by Business Day.
The steel maker certainly desperately needs a pick-me-up from government, with which it has had a fractious relationship for years. “The distrust is really based on a legacy of perceived broken promises by both parties,” O’Flaherty commented.
