AFRICA employees very well , so much so that some have been with us for over 40 years .”
Loyalty of this magnitude is not bought but nurtured through encouraging workers to take genuine and conscientious ownership of their and the company ’ s success . Pisapia explained : “ We delisted Putco in 2005 , buying out any minority shareholders ; we then allocated shares to our own staff . We structured this scheme to comply with South Africa ’ s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment legislation , which has gained us level 3 status .” A share of roughly 23 percent of the company has been divided up between employees in this way .
Furthermore , employees have a clear idea of how they can progress within the company and have access to the group ’ s dedicated training academy which provides learners with everything from technical instruction and driving refresher courses , to dedicated management training .
Aside from excelling at the delivery of government legislation , Larimar provides a wide variety of programmes to economically disadvantaged people . Each year the Putco foundation invests over 10 million Rand , sponsoring housing projects , mentoring schemes and even paying for the lengthy education of medical students .
Based on its past achievements alone , it would almost be enough to predict that the Larimar Group will retain its dominant position in South Africa ; looking at its current strategies , this is looking more like a certainty .
Company Information
INDUSTRY
Automotive ; Buses
HEADQUARTERS
Gauteng
FOUNDED
1945
PRODUCTS / SERVICES
The Larimar Group is South Africa ’ s largest bus company , with a range of divisions involved in everything from manufacture and management , to finance and retail .
www . larimar . co . za 41