Our response to environmental challenges While the pandemic began to stabilise towards the end of 2021 and early 2022, South Africa was still in various stages of lockdown until April 2022. It was only at the end of June that all COVID-19-related restrictions were lifted. As we continue to deal with the daily realities of working in such an uncertain environment, I am again humbled and proud of how PPS operates and is guided by the sole purpose of providing value to our members. Within a broader context, extreme weather events will likely become more frequent and intense in future. We, therefore, take our responsibility to reduce the carbon emissions produced while doing business very seriously. Focused on this goal, we have engaged an environmental consultant to start measuring our emissions so that we can begin a planned process of reducing them over time. We are conversing with our material suppliers about their sustainability journeys. We have also installed solar panels on the roof of our head office in Johannesburg, reducing our impact on the environment and our dependency on Eskom. The solar installation will produce close to 300 MWh per year. This means that at least a third of the electricity used at the head office will now be from a renewable energy source. We are in the process of rolling out similar solar solutions at some of our offices. Our members can expect PPS’s response to sustainability challenges to feature prominently in our annual reporting in future, as our strategy, in tandem with organisations and corporates worldwide, takes shape. I am sure that many of the answers and solutions to these global challenges will emanate from professionals, the market segment we proudly serve. Regulatory changes and compliance There were a few regulatory changes in 2022; these details are available on our website. The National Health Insurance Bill, which, if passed, is likely to have the most significant impact on PPS and its members, is due to go before Parliament this year, although the government has yet to confirm a date for this. We will closely track developments regarding this legislation. While we support government’s endeavour to make healthcare accessible to all, we remain committed to representing and protecting the voice of graduate professionals in all legislative and regulatory processes. Corporate social responsibility PPS Foundation The PPS Foundation uses the shared value of our community of professionals to work towards finding solutions to the key challenges we face as a developing economy, particularly as those relate to our large youth population. Since the Foundation was established six years ago, it has gone from strength to strength. In 2022, it continued to run its core Bursary Programme and University Support Programme without interruption, and all funds were allocated and distributed. For the first time since 2019, representatives could also visit all the universities where bursary holders are studying and reconnect with them and various faculty members in person. The PPS Graduate Internship Programme continues to be oversubscribed every year. The programme is becoming a rich talent pool for the business in various disciplines, including financial advice. Young aspirant financial planners are taken through an internship and are equipped with skills to be successful planners. And, as always, we are grateful to our professional members who offer their time and expertise to develop new generations of graduate professionals through the PPS Foundation Mentorship Programme. We are equally grateful to the many staff members who contribute financially and in kind to the work of the Foundation, which was again well-received in 2022. For example, humanitarian organisations responded quickly to provide relief when torrential rains wreaked havoc in parts of KwaZulu-Natal shortly before Easter, resulting in the deaths of 440 people and the destruction of property and infrastructure. We worked with Gift of the Givers, one of the larger of these organisations. Our staff responded swiftly, donating goods and volunteering their time to assist with the distribution of aid. Another example is Cultivating Tomorrow’s Professionals, a programme where we take Grade 11 pupils from eight schools in lessprivileged areas across the country through a year-long intervention to prepare them for their matric exams and plant a dream for a professional career. Our staff give up their free time over weekends to give extra classqes to these youngsters. This demonstrates how deeply embedded our values-driven culture is and how it serves our members and communities. CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT 18 Leadership commentary
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