E-Prodigitech

The scam first came to light in February 2015. (Image Credit: Darryl Linington)

A recruitment scam offering paid “Telkom internships” at the company upon payment of a “booking fee” of R90 is currently still in operation. The scam first came to light in February 2015, according to a statement issued by Telkom.

According to Telkom, the scammers assure job seekers that they have been awarded a two-month internship at Telkom’s premises in Bloemfontein, which allegedly comes with a salary of R4 000 a month, free accommodation, and catering. Because accommodation is limited, the candidates are asked to pay a once-off booking fee of R90 via the mobile money service at Pick n Pay and Boxer supermarkets to secure their space.

Telkom’s Managing Executive for Group Communication, Ms Jacqui O’Sullivan, stated that: “Telkom is continuing to investigate this matter, in close consultation with the SAPS. We are disgusted that criminals would take advantage of jobseekers and that the Telkom brand is being misused in this way.”

“We would like to warn people to be cautious when pursuing offers online and hope that our efforts to expose this scam will shield the public from further fraud of this nature.”

Job seekers are advised to use the official Telkom recruitment website, when looking to apply for vacant positions.

Darryl Linington

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Hitachi Data Systems Corporation (HDS). (Image source: Google/my-hds.com)

Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) has announced that it has achieved a Level 3 B-BBEE rating, having previously been rated as Level 4. This follows the multi-national company’s acquisition of its African distributor, Shoden Data Systems, in 2012 and the establishment of a Social and Ethics Committee developed to align the company’s B-BBEE plan with its goals.

Cleo Becker, Regional Counsel for HDS Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, Pakistan, Turkey and Israel, comments: “The new rating is excellent news for HDS as it will benefit both our customers and our network of partners. As an OEM in South Africa, it is extremely important that we maintain a good B-BBEE rating so that our partners are positively impacted on the procurement element of the B-BBEE scorecard by procuring products and services from us.” She continues, “We hope that our new, improved rating will give us and our partners a competitive advantage because it means that those procuring our products and services will achieve 110% recognition on spend as opposed to the 100% recognition they received when we were rated Level 4.”

HDS has made B-BBEE a priority and a focus area in recent years by taking ownership of the company strategy at an executive level. Each member of the HDS leadership team plays a role in developing the company’s B-BBEE plan and takes accountability for their assigned responsibilities throughout the financial year. Erasmus Jacobs, HDS General Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, explains: “We believe that sharing the ownership of the B-BBEE strategy internally instead of outsourcing compliance and strategy, along with aligning our B-BBEE plan to our company goals have been key reasons for our success.”

With the recent introduction of the amended B-BBEE codes, many local and multi-national companies will likely need to adjust their B-BBEE plans and strategies to maintain their ratings. HDS plans to focus on compliance in the spirit of the legislation. “As HDS’s business plan is closely linked to our business goals and strategies, compliance is not a hindrance but an opportunity for us to grow,” says Becker. Jacobs concludes, “HDS’s achievement is proof that multinationals can improve their B-BBEE ratings.”

Staff Writer

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