BBBEE CERTIFICATION

At RCL FOODS, we view Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) as a vital component of South Africa’s broader transformation journey. We fully support the government’s efforts to drive this change through the B-BBEE codes, ensuring that our business not only grows sustainably but also creates value for all stakeholders and contributes meaningfully to nation-building.

B-BBEE Status: We are proud to have improved to a Level 3 B-BBEE contributor status through verification under the new Agricultural Sector BEE Codes of Good Practice.

Ownership and Management Control: Our Ownership score saw a slight increase, and our Management Control score rose from 6.82 to 7.79, driven by our ongoing commitment to Employment Equity.

Skills Development: Our Skills Development score improved significantly, from 10.56 to 13.44, thanks to enhanced alignment of training programmes with key business needs. We also made strategic investments in learnerships. These include actual Learners living with disabilities who are enrolled into, what is termed as ‘PWD Learnerships (People living with disabilities).

Supplier and Enterprise Development: Our land transfer programmes in the Nkomazi region continue to empower local communities, particularly small-scale sugarcane growers, with financial and skills support through our TsGro farming service business. We’ve also helped emerging chicken growers through incubation and business support initiatives. We’ve seen notable progress in our Preferential Procurement score, rising by nearly 7 points, which, together with our synergies created through our Supplier and Enterprise Development initiatives improved the combined ED and SD score from 27.76 to 35.73.

RCL FOODS achieved full scores for Enterprise Development, Supplier Development. We’ve also achieved full scores for Socio-Economic Development, for the significant CSI work as driven largely by initiatives from our DO MORE FOUNDATION, which focuses mainly on early childhood development.

All of the above contributing to an overall score increase from 81.05 to 92.94, in line with our commitment to Transformation.

Ownership Improvements: Our black ownership increased from 21.49% to 24.79%, and black female ownership rose from 11.52% to 13.00%.

Sustainability and Compliance: BEE scorecard performance is regularly reported to the Social and Ethics Committee, reinforcing our commitment to monitoring progress and maintaining compliance.

At RCL FOODS, we believe that true transformation is essential to our long-term sustainability and success.

Further details on B-BBEE are reported on an annual basis in the Sustainable Business Report and the Abridged Integrated Annual Report, which can be downloaded here.

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY POLICY

Our employees are our greatest asset. It is through their skills, commitment, and teamwork that we are able to GROW WHAT MATTERS, together. Our mission is to foster a culture of well-being and belonging within an inclusive workspace that attracts, respects, and invests in our people.

Creating an Inclusive High-Performance Culture

To fulfil our Purpose and Vision, we emphasise building an inclusive, high-performance culture, part of our “People First” pillar of our business strategy. Our focus areas are:

• Cultivating diversity and a unique and compelling culture (“Our Way”).
• Growing effective and authentic leadership
• Developing people and teams
• Fostering collaborative employee relations and engagement
• Protecting and promoting our employees’ health, safety, and wellness.

These priorities are integral to our sustainability strategy, with four key enablers: inclusion, fair compensation, investment in people, and employee and contractor wellbeing.

Celebrating Differences, Leveraging Inclusivity

We aim to promote a more equitable, prosperous, and harmonious society by valuing and supporting the inclusivity of all individuals. Our diversity and inclusivity approach has two components:

• Celebrating and actively promoting diversity (gender, ethnicity, disability, religion) through various initiatives.
• Creating an inclusive culture through open and honest dialogue, capability building, leveraging diversity to challenge the status quo; and driving engagement across all levels of the business.

Our Employment Equity Policy

RCL FOODS employment equity policy aligns with the principles of the Employment Equity Act. The objectives are:

• Equalising opportunities for all employees
• Eradicating all forms of discrimination
• Actively implementing plans for demographic representation
• Ensuring continuous engagement and consultation with the representative regional Employment Equity Committees.

RCL FOODS’ commitment in terms of its Employment Equity Policy ensures that opportunities are provided for all employees from any culture, background, gender, age, disability, and race.  In 2022, RCL FOODS embarked upon a process of consultation and engagement with the employment equity committees to ensure the delivery of a comprehensive employment equity plan for 2025. The Company’s progress towards its achievement of workforce diversity objectives is measured through its Employment Equity Plan, the progress of which is measured and reported on, on a regular basis.  The actual employment equity statistics for each financial year is disclosed on an annual basis in the Sustainable Business Report 2023.