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Video 06 de feb. de 2025

Localization Strategy in South Africa – with Sandile Makhathini

Hello and welcome to three questions with MotionPoint.

Today, I have the absolute pleasure of being with Sandile Makatini.

He’s the localization manager at Wabtec South Africa Technologies.

And Wabtec is a leader in freight and railing technology.

Sandile, thank you so much for being here. How are you?

I'm good. Thanks. And how are you, Dominique? Thanks for providing me the opportunity to have a discussion around the localization topic, which is, very close to my heart.

Yeah. I mean, likewise likewise, and and I'm doing great. Thank you for being here again. It's gonna be a very interesting discussion because I don't know that much about localization in South Africa, but, in doing some of my research, I realized, well, just how diverse it is, not only culturally, but also, the the amount of official languages you have. I don't think I've heard of a country that has more official languages. Maybe there is. But maybe we can start off there.

Sandile, in South Africa, right, when companies are trying to come in there, how many languages do they have to consider catering to?

Look. South Africa is a diverse, you know, community, with eleven official languages. Wow.

And, obviously, English is the business language within the country, but yes, we have eleven official languages.

In terms of the legislation, there is no language which is superior than the other.

All languages are treated equally and, in many instances, people who cannot who are not conversant with a different language, they are always afforded an opportunity, to have messages interpreted for them. For instance, government communication is actually, you know, interpreted in all the official languages to ensure that, you know, the government messages reach the all the population within the within the country.

Well, that's that's, I mean, something we've seen a lot in at Ocean Point. For example, in France, they have in sorry, in Canada, the French Canadian population and has called something called Bill ninety six which you know is a language access requirement for people to translate into French. Is that the same case in in South Africa where any government communication still be translated in all those eleven official languages?

Absolutely. Yes. Every government legislation, every government policy is translated into all the official languages, recognized by the law within the country.

And What about businesses? Sign language by the way, sign language has been added onto the list. Sign language, the government ensure that look. Any communication for instance when you watch the news bulletin on on from television, particularly, when you know the government is addressing them the the the the the the citizens, There is also a sign language which is, added.

That’s very interesting.

And and what about businesses? Is it the same? Where businesses have to translate into all eleven? I'm imagining that'd be very hard to do.

Well, businesses are not compelled by any specific law to do that. Mhmm. As I've indicated, as I've pointed out earlier on, that look English still remains, you know, the business language within the country.

However, there are certain critical policies, you know, which emanate, which come from the government, which talk to business. Those it is important that businesses also make sure that they're translated into the various languages which are, you know, recognized by them by the law in South Africa eleven languages. For instance, when you look at your Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Employment Equity Act, So we ensure that, look, they are, you know, available in different languages for them from from for for for the employee population.

Yep. Yep. Well, now now asking more about your role. What are some of the biggest challenges that you face in aligning Wabtec's operations with South African localization policies?

Look, I wouldn't say operations per se, but, I would say remember, WebTech South Africa is located in South Africa. South Africa has its own particular history, where it comes from, the history and the background which might be foreign to our headquarters because, I mean, our our our company is based in the US. Yeah. So, therefore, it's important, that look for every piece of localization, requirement, gets, you know, explained. The context is provided to, you know, to the global community so that they understand exactly where do we come from with these various localization instruments. Because, I mean, localization is a very broad term. It encompasses a whole lot of you know transformation, economic transformation instruments that the government has put in place in trying to transform the socio economic conditions within the country.

Absolutely.

That makes sense. It's it's a big undertaking for any for any business, but I understand that the history of South Africa requires, you know, a lot of intentionality on that end. One good example that I that I know that you pioneer within Wabtec South Africa is, you know, the BBBE, which stands for the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Policies. I think it's fantasy, it's fascinating how South Africa puts these policies into place for when foreign nations or foreign companies want to make an investment, that they have to make a make an investment back into the population, right? And that's that's what's gonna give them better eligibility for government contract access, you know, and better procurement advantages in general.

Speak to me a little bit about that.

What is the broad broad based black economic empowerment and how does that really, you know, work in South Africa?

Okay, Dominic. Look, I I think your starting point is perfect. As I indicated to you that look under localization, you have different pillars.

Mhmm. You know, triple b e is one of them. Let's start with the triple b e e. It is a broad based, black economic empowerment. It's a policy imperative, which we need to ensure that we we we fulfill as an organization.

Essentially, triple BEE is is is is is a policy which seeks to redress the imbalances, the socioeconomic imbalances of the past. It seeks to ensure that, you know, black people have access to business ownership, able to manage and control businesses, and it also seeks to, you know, decrease and eliminate, the inherent in inequalities, you know, in the economy, which, you know, you know, historically embedded, in the history of this country. So, you know, triple b seeks to, you know, level the playing field so that even black people who were previously denied, you know, some business opportunities, access to some business opportunities today are able to, you know, realize their full potential in terms of, you know, economic participation and, certain jobs in South Africa were reserved for specific races.

Triple BEE is trying to break those barriers to say, look, the job market is open to everybody, for as long as, you know, the incumbent possesses the necessary skills and capacity and capabilities.

And in terms of ownership again, black people were denied from owning certain types of businesses. Mhmm. Triple b e is trying to break those barriers to say look the the the the economy, belongs to the people of South Africa and control, to the senior management positions. I mean, the corporate in South Africa, even now, it's still predominantly white, and you can't find females in senior executive positions. The research I mean, the statistic shows even today that, look, we still have a long way to go. Much as if I, have have have has been achieved, however, we still have room for improvement in terms of, breaking those inequalities in terms of, representation at all various, senior levels of management.

Yeah, I mean, I don’t quite think that’s something that’s very important that we have.

Yeah. I love that. That's the intentionality behind it. And how do you feel like that's that's been working? And if somebody that's a young professional would like to get into that type of work, what advice would you give to a localization, for someone that wants to do a localization compliance in South Africa?

It’s important to understand where as a country where we come from And, we we spoke about aligning, you know, the intent with the philosophy, the strategy of the organization.

You know, one of the things that I always, you know, impressed my colleagues, is that triple BEE is not a transaction.

It’s a transformation agenda.

Now the reason I normally hear because businesses by nature transactional.

We always, you know, want to see return on your investment.

When you spend money, you wanted to know what is it in for me. However, with the triple BEE, we are actually pursuing a transformational agenda, which seeks to achieve the bigger goal. Right. I always say, how do you sleep peacefully when your neighbor is hungry? You cannot sleep. Yeah. Now we are saying we must ensure that we create an environment where jobs are created, where unemployment is eliminated, where kids are sent to school, they get skills and the necessary, you know, I mean, training skills so that they can be able to contribute in building the economy because unemployment has a direct, you know, influence on on crime, for instance, instability.

Now we are saying as business, let us make our contribution in creating stable economies and societies where our businesses can thrive?

Absolutely.

I think it's, it's definitely not a zero sum game to empower as many people as we can to have the same or equal opportunities to their peers, you know, no matter what they look like, no matter who they are, no matter where they come from. It's it's and it's not a zero sum game because in that way, I mean imagine someone that didn't have the opportunity has the, you know, mental faculties and, and, you know, inherent talents that could, I don't know, you know, cure cancer or get, have a medical breakthrough. And it's a positive sum game for all of humanity, for everybody to do that. I think

it's fascinating that there is that intentionality, you know, and, you know, here in the West, and I know South Africa still is more of a Westernized country, but in general, you know, you hear about the old stories and you know about rugby, but, you know, those movies and all those things don't really shed light on what the present is like. And it's, well, it's good to talk to people like you and understand what's going on in South Africa and how and how people are trying to empower, the how government is trying to empower the people and the citizens in in that way to help everybody grow, right?

So that that's great, and and it's a big undertaking when you have eleven different languages, right? So there's so there's so many, dialects and so many ways of communicating stuff that it's it's a hard undertaking. So it's, you know, very gallant of people like you, Sandile, to take this on. And, I'm very glad to have spoken to you today about all this.

Thank you. Thank you, Dominic.

Any closing remarks that you would like to say, Samuel?

And, yeah. The closing remark, the parting shot is, look, with triple b e and other transformative, pieces of legislation, we will be able to change this country.

And, when we grow, we are going to grow as a nation.

And, triple b e promotes inclusivity.

There is no one who should be left outside the economic participation.

The aim is to ensure that everybody who has the desire, who has the necessary skills, should be able to participate, in the mainstream economy.

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Sandile, for being here. There you have it. That does it for three questions with Motion Point. Until next time, we'll talk to you guys again.