In 2004, Dr Brian Brink, the man charged with managing mining group, Anglo American’s (Anglo’s) response to the HIV/Aids pandemic, conducted a review of Anglo’s HIV/Aids policies. In his assessment, the results were lacking: 35 000 Anglo employees were HIV positive. He believed that the root of the problem was that the number of employees voluntarily electing to be tested for HIV was disappointingly low.

It was October 2005. Commercial director of the successful low-cost South African airline, kulula.com, Gidon Novick, struggled to find a solution to the airline’s flight delays which impacted negatively on its customer relations. The turnaround time of its aircraft needed to be reduced dramatically for kulula.com to stay competitive, but how could this be achieved?

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Núr Samuels was one of the founders of the Western Cape AIDS Business Forum. A growing requirement was manifesting within South African companies to implement programmes that were effective in the management of HIV/AIDS management. Samuels recognised the need for the documentation of ‘best practice’ with regard to managing HIV/AIDS in the workplace. Metropolitan was an early leader among those taking action against the epidemic in South Africa.

Peter Doyle, Group MD of Metropolitan, who developed the Metropolitan Model, noted that in Europe and North America the impact of HIV infection had been modest. In Africa, however, it was significant. The situation in South Africa was unique; the country had a modern economy, and was skills-dependent and technologically advanced. The larger social, political and economic impact associated with the South African epidemic, as well as those obstacles that prevented South Africa from formulating an adequate response, were examined.

“We cannot just sit by and do nothing!” said Sebastian Olofsson to his uncle, Dan Olofsson, a Swedish IT billionaire and owner of a private game reserve in Hluhluwe (northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). It was February 2003, they were both at the reserve and Sebastian had just returned from a guided tour of the vicinity that had exposed him to the dire poverty in the area and the human suffering there caused by HIV/AIDS.

In 2012, South Africa was still one of the countries with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world. Statistics SA estimated that in 2011, 10.6% of the total population and 16.6% of the adult population (people between 15 and 49 years of age) were HIV positive.

In October 2016, the management team of Women in Wine – South Africa’s first wine brand to be owned and controlled by black women – gathered to prepare for the annual meeting of company shareholders. Operating conditions locally and abroad over the preceding year had once again proved extremely challenging, and chief executive officer (CEO) Beverly Farmer felt the firm needed decisive action to improve its fortunes.

Vodacom Customer Care provided an extensive training programme for new call centre employees. It had also made an effort to ensure that the work environment at its various call centres was pleasant with modern amenities. Performance of call centre agents was measured against a detailed bonus calculator system. In October 2002 the number of calls handled by each call centre agent was added to the list of criteria against which performance of call centre agents was measured.

A plane flies overhead. As if on automatic pilot, Gidon Novick glances out his second floor office window. In reality, he doesn’t really notice the plane. His thoughts are elsewhere. He is planning: considering possibilities, ideas that could work for the either kulula.com or British Airways Comair. “We are always trying to improve our service and stay true to our brands,” he says.

Novick is a visionary, an ideas man. He and Eric Venter are joint Chief Executive Officers of Comair.

In 2012, South Africa was still one of the countries with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world. Statistics SA estimated that in 2011, 10.6% of the total population and 16.6% of the adult population (people between 15 and 49 years of age) were HIV positive.