1SUSTAINABILITY THEME
Solutions that create value for our customers

To lead and grow innovative and sustainable technology solutions

Our restructured business model is poised to enable unprecedented value for our customers. Our business sustainability relies on our ability to consolidate and deliver value for our customers, offering world-class technology services.

Taking responsibility for getting the solution right first time, being a partner for life

Excellence in project execution, continuously evolving a modern world of work

Stimulate economic growth by encouraging entrepreneurialism and creating shareholder value

Nurturing a more sustainable world through technologies that are relevant to our future

Our business model aligns with our purpose to SOLVE, delivering solutions that unlock value for customers by offering worldclass technology services. During the year, we completed a new 10‑year strategic vision that positions the Group to take advantage of emerging technology trends to establish EOH as a digital transformation enabler throughout Africa and beyond. We have demonstrated our ability to use the significant intellectual property we have across the Group to create powerful solutions for our clients, ensuring that our services remain relevant for the future, supporting our customers to make the most of their opportunities and helping them expand into new markets.

TRANSFORMING TECHNOLOGY

EOH’s end-to-end capability allows us to provide solutions that go beyond services and we are focused on transforming from a product to a platform solution. These platforms are particularly relevant for SMEs and mid-cap companies that need cost-effective alternatives to full service end-to-end ICT teams. By delivering solutions that improve efficiencies in our customers’ businesses and operations, we facilitate entrepreneurialism that contributes to job creation and stimulates economic growth. The financial value we create from our activities benefits a wide range of stakeholders, including the salaries we pay our employees, the tax revenue paid to the state and municipalities as well as payments to our suppliers.

Our business is built on a partnership approach that leverages our associations with global technology partners, cooperation and collaboration between Group companies and a partner mindset in our strong relationships with our clients, which include major South African corporates, key metros and government departments.

Enterprise-wide performance management oversight and processes are being implemented to ensure the highest standards of project and service delivery to support excellence in project execution and getting the solution right first time. These processes include transparently monitored key performance measures that align to the EOH strategic objectives.

EOH has a diverse base of talent, technology, solutions and entrepreneurial thinking that applies to every aspect of an organisation including HR, finance, industrial technologies, human-centred design, medical and healthcare, infrastructure and digital enablement. Our enabling technologies align with the increasing environmental and social awareness evidenced in global collaborations such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and our innovative solutions help to create a more efficient, healthier and secure environment that enhances the economy and quality of life.

Our NEXTEC business includes Intelligent Utility Infrastructure Solutions to assist clients in optimising their use of finite resources such as power, water and gas, in a world facing climate change. We utilise technology that enables safe and smart cities that digitally optimise infrastructure to improve lives as well as design healthcare solutions that can save lives.

SOLVE for COVID-19

EOH's response to the COVID-19 pandemic provides an excellent case study of the depth of intellectual property across the Group that enables the rapid development and implementation of innovative and sustainable technology solutions.

At the start of lockdown we had to transform our business into a digital-first organisation while simultaneously sustaining service delivery to our clients. We implemented a process to drive internal collaboration that identified technology within the Group that could be used to rapidly respond to the needs being identified by business, government and our own people. This collaboration resulted in 75 different fully-fledged solutions being developed and launched over three months, focusing on four main areas: creating a remote workforce, returning safely to work, adapting to the new digital normal and supporting public service and health.

We enabled remote work for corporates and SMEs through remote collaboration tools and secure remote desktops, cloud enablement and platform optimisation, and remote workforce management and tracking. We also provided extensive security and VPN management solutions, as well as data, connectivity and network optimisation. Our contact centres and service desks switched to remote operation seamlessly for all clients.

We developed ICULATE, a unique solution that provides a self-contained fully-fitted intensive care and isolation ward in a 12-metre container. The unit is modular and can be set up quickly to extend intensive care and high care isolation ward facilities, with the design concept finalised within three days.

e-Scripting is a telemedicine solution that helped people to get essential medicines and services without leaving their homes. It enables digital electronic signatures that facilitate electronic prescriptions to pharmacies and referrals among service providers. Patients could remotely consult with their healthcare professional, have their script submitted to the pharmacy and their medication safely delivered. This increases revenue for medical providers, decreases fraud, reduces dispensing errors and decreases overall administration costs.

When the local lockdown started to lift, we supported the transition and reactivation of the economy in line with our commitment to getting the country back to work safely, digitally and sustainably by rapidly developing a suite of applications to support SMEs and large enterprises.

The Sikhona platform enables companies to get their staff back to work in a safe, controlled way while remaining compliant with regulations around social distancing. Sikhona enables organisations to manage their COVID-19 risk, workforce locations, staff productivity and real estate, and can be integrated into HR and payroll platforms. We implemented the solution internally at EOH to open offices responsibly, make sure employee health is managed effectively, allow for rapid response for infections on site and proactively manage capacity at our offices.

GetSpace, a part of the Sikhona platform, is a workforce on demand solution that modernises access control and simplifies management of corporate buildings and offices. It has great applicability beyond COVID-19. The solution digitises the booking of space at offices to ensure that office space is not over subscribed and supports social distancing.

We released cutting edge digital customer engagement solutions such as Digital On-boarding Verification Solution (DOVS) that uses advanced facial recognition software, 3D face mapping and real-time liveliness testing to instantly and securely onboard and verify customers from their mobile devices.

Following a call from government early in April, we built web solutions for the Solidarity Fund and Business for South Africa (B4SA) on a pro-bono basis and in 48 hours. Working with fundraising experts Back a Buddy and the Gauteng Food Security Council, we are helping to develop a humanitarian relief and crisis management platform to co-ordinate food provision across the country.

The LinkedTo platform is a unique solution that connects donors and those in need to leverage resources and efforts to maximise the impact of food donations. It allows NGOs to identify and locate communities in need, and track and record food parcel delivery as part of COVID-19 relief efforts. The LinkedTo solution is currently in pilot phase, and the information is fed back to the Presidency to assist in coordinating relief efforts through the Solidarity Fund. This solution has international expansion potential and can be used for provision of any aid resources, not only food.

We understand that the sustainability of our business is deeply intertwined with the state of our nation and we are committed to supporting where we can, leveraging our technology and our people. As Africa's largest systems integrator, EOH has a range of solutions that can help to protect the country's workforce and enable the economy to recover and re-establish itself.

Digital Transformation

Cloud Solutions

Data

Security

Automation

App Dev

Digital Infrastructure

Managed Services

2 SUSTAINABILITY THEME
A diverse, ethical, and talented workforce

To be a responsible employer, nurturing talent and the best people

2019 has been a disruptive year for our people. Nurturing a high performing, diverse and talented culture will require responsible, ethical and motivational leadership that builds purpose around our evolving operating model.

To hire the best people, nurturing talent and opportunity for people from diverse backgrounds

Rewarding people appropriately for high performance and ethical leadership in the workplace

Wellbeing, collaboration and equality in workplace, with zero tolerance for discrimination

Development, training (EOH Academy) and financial assistance for employees wanting to study further

Creating a culture that is built on diversity and inclusion

EOH's ability to create value depends on the quality of the skills we have at our disposal. The technology industry is characterised by rapid evolution and we need to attract, engage and retain top talent, invest in skills development and career progression while supporting balance and quality of life. Furthermore, when considering South Africa's ambitions with regard to 4IR, the chronic shortage of ICT skills in the local technology sector presents a significant hurdle. Ultimately our objective is to attract, develop, reward and retain the best possible talent to drive business success.

2020 was another challenging year for the Group as the restructuring continued and we had to navigate the new reality created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Total headcount reduced 5.8% from 10 578 at the start of the year to 7 333 at 31 July 2020 as a result of the disposal of several non-core businesses as well as retrenchments.

At the start of lockdown, we implemented various cost-cutting measures to preserve cash, which included a three-month pay reduction for employees earning more than R250 000 per annum. Our aim was to minimise job losses and to ensure business sustainability post COVID-19. We implemented remote working solutions for staff and a slow and gradual reopening of our offices once lockdown eased. These measures remain in place until the situation changes.

Our people have been through a lot but have remained resilient and committed through it all, although staff morale has been unavoidably affected. To support our people through these trying times, we introduced a number of wellness initiatives and events aimed at employee well-being including weekly wellness workshops, the introduction of a remote work playbook and a television channel. Despite the significant volatility in the labour market, we were able to attract experienced talent while retaining existing talent. Executive appointments were made and additional resources were appointed to strengthen the financial and GRC functions.

Managing our evolution

Being a responsible employer requires that we focus on building purpose, motivation and kindness as we lead further change in the Group. With the arrival of COVID-19, we prioritised and fast tracked the implementation of a new Employee Value Proposition (EVP), which serves as the intersection between the needs of our people and the needs of our business. The EVP was developed with input from a detailed transactional analysis of our people practices and the feedback we received from the employee survey conducted in February 2020. It is directed towards solving for our clients, company and community by actively engaging our people through an inclusive and innovative culture that drives growth and change. One of the core tenet's of the EVP is how we engage our people further through a culture that is both inclusive and innovative, and that drives growth and change.

An integrated HR strategy drives the EVP. Our culture sits at the heart of the HR Strategy and drives our purpose through an agreed set of EOH values and a leadership imperative to create change. The culture we are building is critical to determine not what we say but rather what we do and how we do it. EOH's culture is about showing up authentically, being adaptable to change, being innovative in our solutions and thinking, and striving for excellence.

Employee engagement is an important aspect of human capital management and our approach is based on the principles of meaningful connection, agile, real-time feedback driving performance, a growth mindset and collaboration. Engagement was an area of focus during the year and at the start of lockdown, the CEO held twice-weekly virtual 'watercooler' sessions with all staff to ensure regular and consistent communications. As the organisation settled into the reality of remote working, these sessions became weekly engagements that remain an important communication channel with our employees.

The people function aspect of the HR strategy has four pillars that are supported by people processes with strategic and operational objectives as well as clearly defined metrics.

Attract

We aim to be an employer of choice by implementing sound people practices that are open, transparent and directly aligned to business objectives

Develop

We aim to grow talent within our business, with an emphasis on building skill agility in our people. Talent management across the business is facilitated through annual talent reviews.

Reward

Our integrated approach to reward management is designed to be fair, responsible and equitable.

Retain

EOH’s compelling EVP and competitive reward structure aim to ensure that we retain our talent.

High performance culture

Performance management plays a foundational role in driving discretionary effort to achieve our vision to build a high performing culture. Our performance management process is based on the alignment and cascading of business, people and individual key performance areas (KPAs across all levels of the business). We prioritise establishing clear expectations and providing continuous, ongoing feedback. Our objective is to incentivise the discretionary effort of our people to create a step change in performance and there is a direct link between performance and reward and recognition.

Remuneration and benefits

Through the EOH EVP model, we seek to provide meaningful roles aligned with the business objectives, create an environment where employees can learn and grow, be recognised, be paid fairly and ultimately cultivate brand ambassadors. Remuneration is only one offering within the EVP to attract and retain talent.

The EOH remuneration philosophy is to ensure a comprehensive and transparent remuneration strategy that drives a high performing culture by supporting the delivery of the business strategy in a sustainable and ethical manner.

Total remuneration within our business is the sum of:

The total guaranteed package, also known as cost-to-company, which includes base pay and benefits.
Short-term incentives (STIs) paid annually if short-term performance targets are achieved.
Long-term incentives (LTIs) that vest over a three to five-year period, depending on the applicable LTI instrument.

Our Cost-to-Company approach provides employees with flexibility and choice in terms of compulsory benefits.

The Cost-to-Company structure includes the following components:

Guaranteed fixed salary;
Qualified allowances;
Employer retirement fund contributions; and
Group risk premiums.

Cost-to-Company is guaranteed and normally paid irrespective of Group performance.

Benefits

EOH provides access to competitive market-related employee benefits that are reviewed annually to ensure that the best options are available. Benefits include risk cover, retirement benefits and medical aid. Employees have access to a team of professional employee benefit advisers who provide support and advice so that employees can make informed decisions based on their personal circumstances.

Employee wellness

Employee mental and physical health as well as an appropriate work-life balance are essential for excellent service delivery and superior performance. EOH has a comprehensive wellness programme that provides support and guidance for our people and their families across areas including financial and legal advice, nutrition and exercise programmes, wellness coaching and programmes for teenagers.

Health and safety

EOH is committed to maintaining a safe work environment to ensure the safety and health of employees and visitors, As a responsible employer the Group remains committed to ensure compliance with the relevant health, safety and environmental legislation and regulations. Our approach to Health and Safety is risk-based, comprehensive, credible to the boundaries of the context of our businesses that ensure we strive for SHE excellence.

Developing Talent

Develop critical skills and competencies

Our policy is to ensure business strategy-led learning and development, supported by robust individual development plans, and coupled with strategic talent management. During the year, we implemented Group-wide ethics training and leadership development initiatives. Coaching and mentoring forms a key component of the engagement strategy for our people. Skills development focused on bursaries, learnerships and adult basic education for people with hearing loss. We engaged in 224 learnerships for unemployed youth and provided R8.9 million specifically towards adult basic education programmes.

Training and development

EOH introduced a new learning and development strategy during the year. The new strategy places greater emphasis on accredited online skills programmes delivered by some of the country's top business schools and other private providers. Training cluster competency themes were based on leadership, personal development and functional training intervention, moving away from face-to-face classroom training. This approach served the Company well when work-from-home became a reality as a result of the national lockdown and COVID-19 challenges. Training continued and confirmed the investment in employee development, despite the challenging circumstances.

The learning and development strategy includes a focus on diversity and inclusion, empowering women in the workplace, upskilling and reskilling of the workforce and developing our millennial employees. Training interventions will continue to focus on growing the identified competencies that will futureproof the business and prepare our people for the new world of work.

Overall training spend reduced from R46.3 million in 2019 to R36.7 million, as a result of a 5.8% reduction in the number of our employees. Average spend per employee reduced 10.6% from R4 635 per person to R4 145 per person.

EOH bursary programme

EOH partners with Belgium Campus ITversity to strengthen the ICT pipeline for the Company and the technology industry. The programme supports learners from previously disadvantaged schools who wish to study information technology. EOH provides bursaries that include full programme costs, stipends and accommodation. We are currently supporting 58 students with ICT bursaries. In 2020, 10 of the EOH graduates who have a total loss of hearing were placed in an incubator programme to enhance their ability to secure a future position in the sector. We plan to continue investing in this Group by integrating them into the EOH Enterprise Development programme.

EOH is committed to supporting disabled communities and we are currently supporting 162 total loss of hearing learners in adult basic education programmes. Many of these learners progressed into learnerships during the year and 29 were absorbed by industry into further learning and development programmes. The programmes focus primarily on technology, women in technology and upskilling disadvantaged, disabled people to enter either the labour market or educational programmes.

Organisational culture

Building purpose, philosophy and values

The ethics program seeks to strategically implement tactics and changes within the business that contribute to an ethical environment in the Group. People, process and technology-focused interventions spanned both finance and governance, risk and compliance (GRC) initiatives and projects, and progress was made with baseline compliance. The planned ethics program was adjusted in both format and budget due to COVID-19, expediting digitisation and automation of some processes, and interventions showed progress. EOH continues to move up the corporate governance maturity curve.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

The value in diversity

EOH embraces and values diversity, and we believe that it stimulates the productivity, creativity and innovation that are essential to drive growth and competitiveness. We are committed to creating a work environment that is diverse, inclusive, and bias-free, that promotes equal opportunities for all and where different perspectives are embraced. EOH has zero tolerance for any form of unfair discrimination, direct or indirect, against any person on any one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnicity, social status, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language, birth or any other arbitrary ground. This stance is clearly stated and enforced in the Company's anti-discrimination and harassment policy.

We consciously address structural and social exclusion in order to build an environment where all our people are proud to be associated with our brand and can prosper.

During the year, we implemented a detailed inclusion strategy to drive racial, gender, ability and generational diversity. The underlying philosophy of the inclusion strategy is that an inclusive world is an enabled world. Each area of the strategy has a detailed action plan to eliminate structural and social exclusion in EOH and more broadly in the communities where our employees come from. In line with this strategy, we established two employee resource groups in the form of a Lean In Circle as a resource for female employees and a Youth Solvers team, which focuses on millennials.

We are committed to sustainable transformation and the empowerment of those who were previously economically marginalised or disadvantaged through discriminatory practices. A detailed transformation plan is in place that was developed with the employment equity committees of the business. The increasing momentum of the BlackLivesMatter movement provided an opportunity to engage in open and honest discussions across the business on important topics such as conscious and unconscious bias.

EOH's Board comprised 60% Black directors at 31 July 2020 and the Group's South African workforce is 41% African, 12% Coloured, 9% Indian and 38% White.

Broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE)

EOH is committed to contributing to the sustainable development and transformation of South Africa. Transformation is managed at an operational level and reported and monitored at Group level. Initiatives in place to support transformation include employment equity programmes, skills training and development, diversity and inclusion training, enterprise and supplier development, preferential procurement and increasing black ownership. EOH's economic empowerment plans and forums enable employee co-determination.

We measure our transformation progress against the Department of Trade and Industry Codes of Good Practice. EOH is a Level 1 contributor to B-BBEE, the highest rating of its peers on the JSE. The Group's latest B-BBEE certificate is available on our website.

B-BBEE scorecard	Target	2020	2019
Equity ownership	25	23.9	25.0
Management control	23	15.7	16.3
Skills development	20	17.3	20.8
Enterprise and supplier development	50	53.9	48.1
Socioeconomic development	12	12.0	12.0
Total	130	122.9	122.2
Contributor level			1

Gender equality

Gender diversity is a core component of our inclusion strategy. Women make up 43% of our overall headcount and form 30% of our management categories. The Executive committee of EOH comprises 38% females and Board representation is 40%. The business has an integrated action plan to improve representation at all levels and functional areas within the business.

People with disabilities

People with disabilities account for 2.3% of our overall headcount. Our skills development plan has a specific focus on people with hearing loss and during the year the Group supported 178 learners in learnerships and adult basic education initiatives with this physical challenge. EOH has spent a total amount of R14.7 million on this group of learners. A new group of learners with disabilities enrolled in learnerships which kicked off in the second half of 2020.

AT EOH WE BELIEVE IN OUR YOUNG LEADERS

EOH supports our next generation of leaders to grow and take action to create a better world. We participate in the One Young World competition, which identifies, connects and promotes young leaders from around the world. The competition and summit provide them with a global platform to accelerate social impact and create a better world, with more responsible, more effective leadership. Due to COVID-19, the global summit for 2020 was postponed and will be held in Munich in April 2021. We have selected three EOH ambassadors to attend the next summit who we believe have a disruptive mindset and are aligned to our value system.

3 SUSTAINABILITY THEME
A vibrant and innovative digital ecosystem

To nurture innovation, partnerships and growth in the digital sector

Evolving technology solutions that make a valuable contribution to society

Building solid and ethical business relationships with vendors, nurturing ICT sector growth

Playing a leading role in the evolution of digital policies and practices fit for our future world

Investing in emerging technology enterprises to drive industry inclusion and transformation

Contributing to society

EOH is passionate about innovation and committed to leading the next generation of sustainable technology that makes a valuable contribution to society and enables a better world. We play a pivotal role in driving an vibrant and growing digital sector within South Africa and beyond by stimulating innovation and new collaborative partnerships that blend the best technical skills and products to evolve solutions that meet our customers' needs.

EOH is systemic to South Africa's economy, making a valuable contribution to society. We provide the backbone of banking systems for many banks in South Africa and Africa, support telecommunications companies and assist Eskom with balancing the power grid. The Group includes cutting-edge medical solutions companies and our services sit at the heart of crucial government institutions and many municipalities. We have created solutions that are integral to addressing many of the challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemic.

*       South African Revenue Service
**      Department of Employment and Labour
***    South African Social Security Agency

Nurturing innovation and growth in the digital sector

iOCO is inspired by digitally native internet organisations (iO) and the creative organisations (CO) of the future to work with customers to improve legacy technology while implementing disruptive platforms. iOCO's strategy is influenced by the evolving market trends of data and analytics, cloud and automation that are driving the need for bespoke development and Everything as a Service (EaaS).

NEXTEC offers valuable technology products and service opportunities including intelligent infrastructure solutions that among other things use the latest OEM technology to create safe and smart cities. The digital revolution has presented cities with the opportunity to optimise through the use of the existing infrastructure as well as build new smart infrastructure and NEXTEC aims to be at the centre of this revolution in helping clients take their businesses forward.

Our IP organisational pillar includes Sybrin, Syntell and Information Services that offer the opportunity for strategic collaboration with some of the world's leading technology companies.

During the year, iOCO created an intellectual property (IP) business unit with a sole focus on IP development. The unit set up an ideation forum and uses an ideation toolset to harness the power of the extensive experience in our Digital team to grow out ideas to develop and take to market. This led to the creation of various Bots that enable faster processing of back-end shared services such as finance, procurement and reporting.

Leading and growing ethical ICT

EOH's critical position at the centre of the fourth industrial revolution requires that our commitment to ethical business practices is demonstrated both within and beyond our business. This includes ensuring that the long-term mutually beneficial relationships we have with technology partners and customers continue to meet the highest professional and ethical standards.

We recognise our responsibility to lead on critical agendas that are emerging within our sector, such as the way technology is impacting culture. We are focused on being an ethical and effective leader in critical areas including the protection and ethical use of data, and the high cost of access to data and ICT solutions in Africa that has embedded inequality. Digital evolution is raising moral and ethical questions on matters such as automation and gaming addiction that require courageous dialogues and the proactive definition of cross-border policies and regulations that are fit for our future world.

INVESTING TO PROMOTE INCLUSION AND TRANSFORMATION

EOH’s entrepreneurial philosophy supports innovation and investment in emerging enterprises to incubate next generation technologies, contribute to the transformation of the ICT sector, support the creation of a vibrant ecosystem of technology players and create value for our stakeholders. We balance this approach with effective oversight that ensures the best opportunities for emerging players to ensure effective strategic enterprise management to nurture and optimise value.

Our current focus is on rationalising and consolidating the businesses in our pillars to align with our new strategy, with less emphasis on new investments. However, we remain committed to continuing to work with emerging enterprises through our enterprise and supplier development initiatives. For example, two of our companies, IST and Energy Insight, has a formal enterprise development plan that is supporting the development of a small subcontractor to do electrical panel wiring and assembly for its power infrastructure division. MIE, an EOH subsidiary, has committed 10% of the contract value with a state-owned enterprise to supplier development initiatives, which includes skills development, job creation, job preservation and enterprise and supplier development.

4 SUSTAINABILITY THEME
Building technology skills in communities

To invest in the digital and maths skills needed by future generations

Contributing to career development programmes with Afrika Tikkun, building digital skills

Bursaries, learnerships and skills programmes for ICT students

Strategically partnering with the Maths Centre to enable improved matric results

EOH Graduate programme and the One World Leader initiative to nurture leadership skills

South Africa's National Development Plan recognises unemployment and poor schooling for disadvantaged students as two of the country's nine primary challenges The unemployment rate for 15 to 24 year olds in South Africa is more than 50%¹ and unemployment rates are likely to trend higher due to the impact of COVID-19 and the lockdown.

EOH believes that investing in initiatives that improve mathematics, science and technology skills can improve youth employability and unlock opportunities for fulfilling careers in digital industries, where there is a critical skills shortage. With COVID-19 accelerating the trend towards a more digital world, these skills are more important than ever to equip youth for inclusion into the productive economy and to futureproof a thriving and prosperous South Africa. Helping students, teachers and parents to get an ICT foundation and skill set, contributes to a future generation that is more employable and builds opportunity in disadvantaged communities.

Job skills training and guidance are critical to prepare youth to enter the workforce and enterprise development initiatives promote entrepreneurial opportunities that can help break the cycle of poverty and create jobs.

Our socio-economic development (SED) activities focus on partnering with key organisations to deliver equitable solutions to quality education, with an emphasis on mathematics, science and technology.

In total, EOH invested R11.1 million in SED initiatives in FY20 (FY19: R10.7 million).

OVERVIEW OF OUR YOUTH DIGITAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT

The Maths Centre initiative

Supports maths, science and technology and entrepreneurial skills development by equipping learners, teachers and parents.

Afrika Tikkun

Provides education,health and social services to young people,including ICT skills training.

Bohlale Village Innovation Hub

Works with learners from disadvantaged schools to improve skills, including providing full bursaries.

Primestars

Specialises infacilitating Youth Development programmes for high school learners from underserved communities using an “Educational Theatre of Learning” model to enhance the educational process.

¹ http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02112ndQuarter2020.pdf

Businesses within the Group implement skills development initiatives in areas relevant to their operational focus. During 2020, these included:

CA Southern Africa is sponsoring 150 learners for 12 months. The learners were employed from the start of June 2020 and are undergoing training in IT End User Computing. They are deployed at the Department of Health.

CA covers the learners' full cost of training and a stipend as a service to the community. The programme will help these learners to achieve a qualification, become self-sufficient and sustainably economically active, while providing a service to the community where they are deployed.

SI Analytics donated PCs to underprivileged communities.

Sybrin partnered with an NGO in Cape Town to recruit 10 candidates to become AI Coaches. The program equips candidates with hard and soft skills that will empower them in their careers as they gain knowledge and experience in critical areas of software development and use the latest programming languages. The AI Coaches are trained in workplace etiquette, time management and critical thinking, and Sybrin provides training in programming fundamentals.

Improving employability and ICT skills with Afrika Tikkun

Afrika Tikkun was founded in 1994 to develop and uplift young people in under-privileged communities in South Africa. The organisation works to end child poverty and youth unemployment by implementing a Cradle-to-Career 360° model that includes personal, leadership and academic development while also addressing the nutrition, health, and social needs of the young person. The Career Development Programme provides career guidance, job readiness training, job placement and bursaries for further learning targeted at young adults.

EOH has supported Afrika Tikkun for more than 10 years in a programme that aims to provide a sustainable future for township youths, through digital skills that support career development, breaking the cycle of poverty in poor communities.

In line with our focus on improving technology skills, we introduced basic coding to enhance the scope of offering to the youth through Afrika Tikkun.

Africa Tikkun's Child and Youth Development programme (for ages 7 to 18) introduces students to the basic components of a computer and teaches them about hardware, software and typing skills. The Career Development programme (ages 19 to 25) delivers a full lifecycle of ICT training, from PC Basics, MS Office Suite to software development, data analysis, cybersecurity training with modules to enhance problem solving and critical thinking skills.

www.afrikatikkun.org

The programme includes 6 – 12 months of technical skills training designed to increase the learners' chances of employment in the information technology sector.

In the first six months of 2020, 969 people were registered in the Career Development programme, with 641 young people being placed into subsequent employment opportunities. These learners were prepared specifically for the workplace, with the focus being on Microsoft Office, email, leveraging the internet for research and online application to tertiary institutions for grade 11 and 12 students.

Improving maths performance with the Maths Centre

EOH partners with the Maths Centre to support the roll-out of their programme to ten high schools, including two special needs schools, in the East Rand Johannesburg area.

The Maths Centre is a non-profit organisation promoting excellence in mathematics, science, technology and entrepreneurship. It works across South Africa, with the primary objective of equipping teachers, learners and parents with the learning materials and programmes they need to further develop their competency and performance in these learning areas, from reception to grade 12.

Over the past five years, over 2 664 students between grades 8 and 12 have benefited from the programme at schools that were mostly performing below the national average. Key academic achievements after the programme was implement include:

66 maths distinctions;
overall 81% mathematics pass rate;
68 physical science distinctions; and
80% physical science pass rate at three schools

www.mcis.org.za

EOH supported 100 students in 2019 and 2020. Upon graduation, all matriculants are offered the opportunity to enrol in the EOH Youth Job Creation initiative, which aims to improve their chances of future employment.

5 SUSTAINABILITY THEME
The elimination of corruption

Share the lessons we have learnt and enable high integrity business

Courageous Leadership Series to lead by example and share the lessons we have learnt

Deliver the CODE programme to ensure the highest standard of integrity and ethics

Adopt the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and embed a principles-based workplace

Futureproof EOH with best practice governance, risks and controls

The unethical behaviour discovered at EOH early in 2019 echoes the corruption and broader lack of values being revealed in initiatives such as the Zondo Commission of Enquiry and the investigation into the collapse of VBS Mutual Bank. EOH is committed to putting courageous principles at the forefront of our decision making by taking a stand for what we believe in, doing the right thing even if it comes at a price, failing forward, having the courage to admit our mistakes and, most importantly, taking accountability and working as a team to remedy them. As we put in place the controls and processes necessary to address the governance and financial weaknesses identified and futureproof the business, we have seen a culture shift towards ethical leadership and the emergence of a deeply responsible consciousness.

We have been transparent and candid about the challenges we faced in addressing these issues, in line with our values and commitment to sharing the lessons we have learnt, including through the EOH Courageous Leadership Series. This initiative was introduced in 2019 and stemmed from the need to instil a new and sustainable ethos within EOH. The concept of courageous leadership has now been embedded in our organisation through our SOLVE purpose (see About EOH) as we aim to solve challenges courageously and exponentially using our deep industry expertise.

Post-investigation actions

ENSafrica made significant progress in completing its forensic investigation into the material aspects of the irregularities identified in the initial phases of the investigation. As part of the outcomes of the investigation, EOH completed the implementation of the anti-bribery and corruption framework recommended by ENSafrica and PwC. We reported all suspicious activities and related suspects to the Financial Intelligence Centre and reported all those identified in facilitating the identified irregularities to the South African Police Service. All individuals directly implicated by the investigation are no longer employed at EOH. ENSafrica has been instructed to fully cooperate with all authorities to enable the legal processes to unfold and we are also engaging SARS and National Treasury to settle any liabilities. Summonses have been issued against the main culprits of the wrongdoing to recover some of the loss that EOH suffered as a result of their actions.

Furthermore, Group CEO, Stephan van Coller and ENSafrica’s Head of Forensics, Steven Powell, who led the forensic investigation into suspicious transactions at EOH testified at the Zondo Commission on the findings of the investigation. We are very proud to have been able to support the work of the Commission and our judicial system through the evidence presented.

Best practice governance, risk and compliance

The Chief risk officer's report and EOH governance framework provide more information on EOH's ongoing endeavours to entrench a best practice governance, risk and control framework. We are committed to delivering and enhancing the CODE programme, our initiative for sharing our role as a responsible corporate citizen with our employees and our partners, to ensure the highest standards of integrity and ethics. A Board approved sustainability policy that resulted in training was rolled out during the year on our prioritised Sustainability Themes, SDGs, understanding the Triple Bottom line and an overview of ESG pillars for assessing risks and returns. We implemented automation enhancements and introduced new oversight forums to further strengthen governance, risks and controls.

We appointed a Chief Risk Officer in April 2019 who led the establishment of a new governance, risk and compliance capability responsible for ethical leadership and responsible corporate citizenship across the Group. Further appointments were made during the year to build capacity and strengthen oversight and control in legal, procurement, HR, compliance and internal audit.

Our enterprise risk management approach has been significantly enhanced following comprehensive work undertaken to identify, quantify and embed best practice processes, with input from external and internal experts. Significant emphasis has been placed on ensuring a more corporatised approach to risk that extends consistent oversight across the companies in the Group.

We have further strengthened our finance function to ensure that it is empowered to be honest and courageous, to highlight red flags and to blow the whistle if necessary without fear of victimisation. EOH's Expose_IT whistleblowing App provides an effective channel for whistleblowers to communicate concerns to the Company's leadership.

New approach to third parties and opportunities in the fight against corruption

EOH adopted new and robust procedures to prevent a reoccurrence of the ethical and governance lapses that occurred. These procedures include:

establishing a Conflicts Management Control Room that conducts a thorough due diligence on any potential third party that the Group intends doing business or establishing a relationship with;
engaging ENSafrica to review, screen and vet all public-sector deals and related partners;
enhancing the bid review process, which incorporates all oversight functions and the business areas, to ensure that all tenders EOH intends to bid on are clean and free from any potential irregularities; and
rolling out continuous training, which has a specific focus on anti-money laundering, anti-competitive and anti-bribery and corruption training. In the first edition of this training, EOH achieved a 93% attendance and completion rate for these programmes.
We also aligned with the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact

PROMOTING COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP THROUGH OUR SOLVE PURPOSE

The EOH Courageous Leadership initiative was introduced in 2019 and stemmed from the need to instil a new and sustainable ethos within EOH. The key tenet of the initiative was about placing courageous leadership principles at the forefront of our decision making. This was a key focus area for the Group last year as we embarked on a journey towards cleaning up the business from a governance and financial perspective in order to build a culture of deeply responsible and ethical EOH citizens. The concept of courageous leadership has now been embedded in our organisation through our SOLVE purpose (see About EOH) as we aim to solve challenges courageously and exponentially using our deep industry expertise. This approach supports the evolution of the digital solutions that our customers need in order to deliver their goods and services in an ethical way, that are futureproof and protect their customers and wider stakeholders over the longer term.

Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and

Principle 2: Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

(Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948)

Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;

Principle 4: The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

Principle 5: The effective abolition of child labour; and

Principle 6: The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

(International Labour Organisation's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work 1998)

Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;

Principle 8: Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

Principle 9: Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

(Rio Declaration on Environment & Development 1992)

Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

6 SUSTAINABILITY THEME
Taking action on climate change

Protecting our planet through enabling technologies

To lead by example by reducing our carbon footprint though eco-friendly practices

To continue to support the evolution of technologies that support smart cities

Technology solutions for customers that enable the efficient use of resources

Nurture of NEXTEC technology opportunities that contribute to climate action

While we have a relatively low environmental footprint as a provider of professional services, we see effective environmental stewardship as an important aspect of an organisation's licence to operate. EOH is committed to playing its role in addressing the challenges climate change presents to South Africa and the global economy in the areas where we can.

The biggest opportunity we have to increase environmental sustainability is to apply our expertise, resources, research and innovation to create solutions that provide our customers with the technology to improve the efficiency and sustainability of their operations, products and services. NEXTEC's solutions include technologies that support smart, safe, healthy and secure environments, including energy control systems, building management environmental solutions and intelligent green building design. NEXTEC's energy and water technology solutions can significantly reduce energy and water consumption. NEXTEC provides air monitoring solutions to industry, government and research organisations. Our analytical instrumentation offers continuous measurement of both surrounding air pollution and chimney emissions.

We design, manufacture, supply, install, commission, train and provide after sales service for either individual monitors, or integrated systems in southern Africa.

Within the Group, our goal is to minimise our direct impact on the environment by operating our facilities and conducting our activities in ways that reduce energy, water, paper consumption, waste and greenhouse gas emissions. We support and comply with, or exceed, the requirements of current environmental legislation and codes of practice associated with industry best practices. As far as possible, we purchase products and services that minimise damage to the environment and we aim to minimise waste and prioritise waste reuse or recycling. EOH vehicles are operated and maintained with due regard to environmental issues and we apply the principles of continuous improvement in respect of air, water, noise and light pollution from EOH premises.

Initiatives that reduced our environmental impact during 2020 include:

Investigating the use of plumbed-in filtered water solutions to substitute for filtered bottled water solutions. Subject to available funding, this solution may be rolled out in 2021.

Moving bottled water dispensers to kitchens and pause areas, significantly reducing the total number of dispensers across the property portfolio.

Replacing all takeaway coffee cups with sustainable recyclable alternatives.

Reducing the property footprint by 40 buildings across the country, significantly reducing our carbon footprint.

Fitting all new builds with LED lighting.

Designing and creating a furniture solution built only with hand tools.

Repurposing/reclaiming wood used as wall cladding.

Keeping a significant percentage of the property portfolio closed and encouraging work from home when lockdown eased. Currently around a quarter of total floorspace remains closed.

Increasing the use of EOH’s managed print services (MPS), which currently manages approximately 40% of the Group’s print environment. Further consolidation and merging of print activity will take place as the remaining external contracts expire.

EOH's 2020 carbon footprint

As part of our commitment to environmental sustainability, we measure the direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from our operations and products. The carbon footprinting methodology was undertaken according to the international methodology Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative (GHG protocol) and includes all fossil fuel consumption, purchased electricity and other sources of emissions.

As in previous years, EOH's main sources of emissions are purchased electricity generated from fossil fuel, business travel in employee-owned vehicles and fuel used in company-owned vehicles, which together account for 84% of total 2020 emissions.

EOH's total carbon emissions reduced 39% year on year due to the ongoing restructure of the business and the impact of COVID-19. The disposal of a number of business units led to a significant decrease in the number of company cars and vehicle emissions. Approximately 38 leased buildings were exited, two buildings were sold and ten buildings were disposed of, reducing electricity, water consumption as well as fugitive emissions from refrigerants and air-conditioning units attributable to the Group. Business travel, which includes air travel, the use of hired cars and personal vehicles for business purposes, reduced due to the restructuring as well as the COVID-19 lockdown.

Main indicators

	2020	2019*	% change
Scope 1 emissions (tonnes CO²e)	4 611	7 978	(44.5)
Scope 2 emissions (tonnes CO²e)	10 509	14 154	(25.8)
Scope 3 emissions (tonnes CO²e)	6 724	13 106	(48.7)
Scope 1 emissions (tonnes CO²e) per employee	0.55	0.75	(30.1)
Scope 2 emissions (tonnes CO²e) per employee	1.24	1.34	(6.5)
Scope 3 emissions (tonnes CO²e) per employee	0.80	1.24	(35.4)

Definitions:

Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from sources that a company directly owns or has control over.

Scope 2 emissions arise from purchased electricity, heat or steam.

Scope 3 emissions are a consequence of a company's activities, but occur at sources owned or controlled by another company.

* 2019 data has been adjusted to include updated electricity consumption data and diesel consumption for backup generators.

Our six sustainability themes

1SUSTAINABILITY THEME Solutions that create value for our customers