Telkom strives to create shared value for its business and society through strategic interventions that meaningfully impact the South African economy, creating social and commercial value.
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External moderate assurance on selected sustainability indicators. Please refer to the FY2024 Independent Assurance Report available online. |
FutureMakers launched in 2015 with an initial investment of R250 million from the IDF Future Fund. Since then, it has supported approximately 2 600 previously disadvantaged SMMEs through incubation, investment, connectivity, and business development support services.
FutureMakers supports SMMEs through financial and non-financial programmes. Our ESD programmes aim to unearth innovation through SMMEs that can improve the Telkom business and its offerings. This is achieved through:
FutureMakers programmes fall within two focus areas: diverse supply chain programmes and innovation programmes. Telkom has supported 428 (FY2023:320) enterprises through procurement opportunities worth R339 million (FY2023: R334 million) and innovation programmes. These businesses have created 69 500 job opportunities (FY2023: 66 536), demonstrating how Telkom, through FutureMakers, is creating real value for South Africans and connecting them to better lives.
We work with youth and female-owned businesses, and promote inclusive innovation and localisation. We took on the new national cohort of the Township Innovation Programme in April 2023, with 13 entrepreneurs from North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape.
FutureMakers launched the I’M IN’s Women Ideation Programme in partnership with JP Morgan and the Embassy of Ireland in South Africa. Recognising the role of women as agents of change, the programme supports investment readiness among 30 African women-owned technology start-ups in underserved communities and universities.
FutureMakers contributes to the investing with purpose strategic pillar of the ESG strategy. It does this through SMME spend, developing and investing in a new generation of black-owned, high-growth enterprises that create the most jobs and economic outcomes within society.
The South African economy needs an effective entrepreneurship ecosystem that creates an enabling environment for start-ups through improved access to funding, new markets to penetrate and reduced bureaucratic burdens. FutureMakers reduces these barriers of entry for local tech start-ups by creating market linkages within the ESD ecosystem.
Our partnership with the GEC+Africa, an initiative of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEC), is an example of how we invest in SMMEs and encourage networking and peer mentoring to achieve global success. The inaugural GEC+Africa Congress, held in March 2024, drew entrepreneurs and leaders from 50 African nations who are committed to advancing entrepreneurship in their countries.
FutureMakers SMMEs were afforded prime exhibition opportunities at GEC+Africa’s 12th Buy Local Summit and SchoolNet Conference to increase business-to-business market opportunities.
Telkom was honoured at the 12th Proudly South African Localisation Dinner for our commitment to increasing local procurement within our supply chain. This award reinforces our resolve to harness technology to develop the local digital economy, drive innovation and job creation, and enhance the global competitiveness of local technology-based small businesses.
Dr Mmaki Jantjies, Telkom Group Executive: Innovation
and Transformation (middle), flanked by Mr Howard Gabriels, Proudly South African: Chairperson of the Board
(left), and the Minister of Trade and Industry of South
Africa, Mr Ebrahim Patel (right).
The table on the right
maps our programmes
according to the start-up
life cycle and classifies
programmes according
to our two focus areas.
| Start-up life cycle stage: | Seed and development (ideation) |
Early stage (start-up) |
Later stage (growth, establishment and expansion) | |||
| Focus area: | Enterprise development Innovation | Enterprise development Innovation | Supplier development Diverse supply chains Localisation |
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1
Telkom Township Innovation Incubator |
1
Telkom Tech Accelerator |
1
Mentorship programme and business development support services |
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| An 18-month structured innovation and digital skills training with software development support. | An annual programme customised per start-up to develop a proof of concept, business case and technology support. | An annual structured programme customised for Telkom’s suppliers to increase their business growth and provide business development support services. | ||||
| Programme: |
2
Hackathons and incubation |
2
Direct support services per business unit |
||||
| Hackathons to solve key Telkom innovation challenges in partnership with start-ups, followed by 12 to 18 months of incubation. The incubation covers business and technology readiness. | Ad hoc material, marketing, and grant support to SMME suppliers per business unit (Gyro, Telkom Consumer, and Openserve). | |||||
|
3
Early payment days |
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| Payment of invoices within seven to 14 days for all FutureMakers-approved SMMEs. | ||||||
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4
BCX SMME Subcontractor Programme |
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| Partnering of BCX and SMMEs when responding to clients through subcontracting. |
The table on the right
maps the three
investment
vehicles across the
start-up
life cycle.
|
Start-up life cycle stage: |
Seed and development (ideation) |
Early stage (start-up) |
Later stage (growth, establishment and expansion) | |||
| Focus area: | Enterprise development Innovation | Enterprise development Innovation | Supplier development
Diverse supply chains Localisation |
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| Programme: |
1
Telkom Future Fund managed by IDF Capital |
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| Established in 2015 with a R150 million investment from Telkom (R250 million including BCX) to fund the stages of the start-up life cycle. The Fund is in divestment phase and expires in September 2026. The fund manager is charged with optimising returns while meeting the set expiry date of the fund. | ||||||
|
2
Aions: ICT Venture Builder |
3
Supplier Development Funder |
|||||
| Established in FY2023 with a commitment of R150 million over five years. The Venture Builder builds other technology companies from seed and development, to early stage phases and facilitates investments into those companies. | Established in FY2023 with R100 million over five years. Provides capital to SMMEs within Telkom’s supply chain who are part of FutureMakers. | |||||
Ensuring the long-term sustainability of our SMMEs through a wider pool of procurement, funding and technical mentorship opportunities remains a key challenge.
FutureMakers leveraged a shared pool of opportunities through improved collaboration and partnerships in FY2024. Employees were invited to serve as transformation ambassadors in a shared commitment to nurture FutureMakers SMMEs and incorporate them into our supply chain. Market access will be a key focus as we seek sustainable opportunities for the SMMEs.
| Telkom | Society | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial | Telkom Consumer distribution channels: R104 million in sales (FY2023: R152 million) |
SMMEs in our programmes generated revenue of R388 million. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Social | A contribution to Telkom’s ESG strategy to impact 100 000 lives through SMME development by FY2025 resulted in the target being met in FY2023. The target has been revised to 250 000 lives impacted by FY2026. | 67 063 new jobs created and sustained
(FY2023: 39 261), resulting in 221 308 lives
impacted.*
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Lives impacted is reported on a cumulative basis since 2015. The baseline measurement was in
2022 at 90 000 lives impacted (cumulative from 2015). The FY2024 lives impacted, recorded at
221 308, surpassed the short-term target of 150 000 in FY2024. This trend indicates a likelihood
of achieving the target. However, the IDF Future Fund is in divestment stage (ending in 2026) and
this poses a risk as Telkom exits investments. The attainment of this goal has largely been due to
Telkom’s investments in digital platform companies in the IDF Future Fund that created jobs.
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Telkom’s township strategy aims to create touchpoints for the township market to access connectivity and other Telkom products. The aim is to capture an evolving digital‑first township market that demands data and other digital products.
The lack of mapped streets in townships makes it near-impossible for delivery companies to service these areas as they rely on digital maps. Delivery Ka Speed is a fast‑food delivery company based in Hammanskraal, Pretoria. They were onboarded as a consumer dealer in October 2023 to drive Telkom’s strategy of capturing the growing township market in Gauteng, Limpopo and North West. Telkom Consumer has partnered with Delivery Ka Speed to drive new Telkom acquisitions in the township market and support job creation among unemployed youth.
Delivery Ka Speed is a 100% Black youth-owned and township-based food delivery SMME. It was selected to form part of the Consumer Dealers Programme based on its high performance and growth potential.
Delivery support to increase visibility and capacity to improve sales in growing the township market through delivery bikes. Sponsored airtime for local delivery youth partners.
In partnership with Telkom Consumer, FutureMakers approved a R300 000 grant to purchase 10 new delivery bikes and airtime sponsorship of R10 000.
An additional R3 million loan was approved through Aions in October 2023.
Marketing and business development support
Key partnerships and clients
With the dawn of new technologies and digitalisation of various sectors, traditional jobs are increasingly becoming redundant, creating a myriad of new opportunities. In the South African context of unemployment and inequality, Telkom’s ESG strategy is geared to promote ICT solutions with enduring economic, environmental and social impacts.
Telkom FutureMakers initiated a proof of concept with Credipple, a talent marketplace for trusted creative and digital professionals. The aim is to impact lives through job creation for freelancers in digital marketing while ensuring market access for entrepreneurs.
Credipple is a rewards-based talent marketplace. It connects business clients to trusted creative and digital professionals for online and remote work.
Credipple had a strong community of creative and digital professionals and a strong business model. What they needed was seed investment to develop their platform so they could scale.
Telkom approved a R500 000 grant and made a pre‑seed investment of R1.65 million through IDF Capital in 2022 to develop and grow the Credipple marketplace.
An additional R3 million loan was approved through Aions in October 2023.
Marketing and business development support
Key partnerships and clients
* Short-term jobs refers to project-based (temporary) jobs.
The Telkom Centres of Excellence (CoE) Programme is our flagship investment in the development of specialist computing and engineering skills in South Africa. Read more about its objectives and research focus in the Intellectual capital section.
In FY2024, Telkom invested R9 million in the CoE Programme, with other industry partners investing R1.3 million. This supported 333 postgraduate students in the 2023-2024 academic years. 21% of these students were female. We made steady progress in improving the representation of women in specialist fields within computer science and engineering.
Programme outputs in FY2024:
333 |
| postgraduate students supported (FY2023: 305) |
57 |
| postgraduate students completed
and graduated in 2023 (FY2023: 55) |
154 |
| research publications from project supported (FY2023: 147) |
37 |
| international universities and
research centres that we collaborate with (FY2023: 28) |
The Telkom CoE Programme has run for over 26 years, based on consistent investment and co-ordination from Telkom since 1997. Over this period, the programme led to positive outcomes linked to the development of specialist skills in computer science and engineering, creation of employment and economic development, and the development of the ICT sector through research and innovations created by students trained within the programme.
By its 25th year, the programme had resulted in:
These positive outcomes continue with sustained and consistent investment and the injection of Telkom’s internal research and engineering skill set into shaping the skills development and innovation aspects of the programme.
Telkom is responsible for contributing to the socio-economic environment as part of our licence to operate. By driving partnerships with communities, the Telkom Foundation improves the quality of education, contributes to Telkom’s ESG strategy and enhances our corporate citizenship status.
The Telkom Foundation invested R71.2 million
(including administration costs) in FY2024
(FY2023: R64 million). Of this, R29.8 million 
was invested in education, R33 million in digital
skills, and R1.5 million in social development
programmes.
In pursuit of academic excellence in mathematics and science in disadvantaged communities, the Foundation extended its programme of face-to-face supplementary teaching beyond Gauteng, to the Free State and Mpumalanga. This meant we reached 1 391 learners in grades 8 to 12. We also onboarded a new partner, Kutlwanong NPC, leveraging their commendable work with high school learners for the Telkom Foundation programme.
The Foundation extended its academic support programme to include virtual live supplementary teaching and online support nationally for grades 8 to 12. This was done in partnership with the Telkom Lightbulb Programme. The Lightbulb platform is zero-rated by Telkom and offers access to virtual supplementary teaching and content to all learners nationally at no cost. This scales our impact through ICT-enabled interventions.
The Foundation reached 32 279 learners nationally, including both face-to-face and virtual components. A total of 117 grade 12 learners were enrolled on the face-to-face programme and wrote the grade 12 examinations in 2023. They achieved a 99% pass rate, with 86% achieving bachelor passes, and 117 distinctions for the 2023 school year. The top 15 learners achieved between three and eight distinctions each, and the majority registered for science and engineering studies in 2024. Telkom has committed to comprehensive bursary support for the 15 students.
The Foundation extended its commitment to producing future-fit learners through a three-year extracurricular Learner Digital Skills Programme. The programme supports 300 learners in the Free State and Mpumalanga. In its second year in 2023, learners were trained in web application development, cybersecurity, IoT, scratch, the gig economy, robotics, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Foundation’s Youth Digital Skills Programme continued to reskill unemployed youth with MICT SETA-accredited ICT training and job experience. In total, 542 youth benefited through placement at Telkom, various government departments and SMMEs. This included a group of 120 youth who are part of the Foundation’s partnership with the Department of Education’s Gauteng City Region Academy. This partnership reskills unemployed youth and places them in schools to provide IT helpdesk assistance.
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External moderate assurance on selected sustainability indicators. Please refer to the FY2024 Independent Assurance Reportavailable online. |
The Foundation supports unemployed youth by providing MICT SETA-accredited training in various ICT fields. The training is based on four months of theory and eight months of practical experience with various Foundation partners. These include the national and provincial Departments of Social Development, the Gauteng Department of Education, the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, and SMMEs.
The programme has reached 998 youth since the first cohort in 2021. Of these, 49% met all requirements and were certificated, 41% are still completing the experiential learning component with partner organisations, including Telkom, and 10% left for other opportunities.
The programme has provided skills support to 161 SMMEs nationally and much-needed technical support to 160 schools in Gauteng, helping to improve ICT integration in teaching and learning.
Understanding the various challenges that impact our communities, the Foundation continued to provide learners with psychosocial support. This extended the long-running partnerships with Childline South Africa and Lifeline South Africa. The Foundation, in collaboration with Telkom, completed the transition of Childline SA’s tollfree number to the regional 116 number in line with ICASA’s mandate and global standards. The telephone counselling services provided through these partnerships reached 346 774 people.
Telkom’s investments in sustainable programmes demonstrate our commitment to uplifting communities. They have contributed to improved science and mathematics uptake, teaching practice and classroom management. Through these investments, we have enhanced teaching and learning, given ICT access to unreached schools, and empowered unemployed youth with ICT and other future skills.
Over the last five years, the Telkom Foundation has invested:
BCX retained a Level 1 B-BBEE contributor status for the second year. BCX’s transformation initiatives enable it to contribute to the government’s goal of an inclusive economy.
BCX improved on most of the scorecard elements compared to FY2023.
| Scoring element and weighting points | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 |
 |
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| Ownership (25) | 18.52 | 19.32 | 19.73 |
| Management control (23) | 17.81 | 18.21 | 20.65 |
| Skills development (20) | 19.36 | 23.47 | 23.95 |
| ESD (50) | 44.13 | 47.06 | 48.16 |
| Socio-economic development (12) | 12.00 | 12.00 | 12.00 |
| Total (130) | 111.82 | 120.06 | 124.49 |
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| Ownership (25) | 18.52 | 19.32 | 19.73 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Management control (23) | 16.17 | 18.71 | 17.33 |
| Skills development (20) | 19.18 | 19.36 | 21.32 |
| ESD (50) | 50.60 | 50.68 | 51.50 |
| Socio-economic development (12) | 12.00 | 12.00 | 12.00 |
| Total (130) | 116.47 | 120.07 | 121.88 |
| Category | FY2022 R’billion1 |
FY2023 R’billion1 |
FY2024 R’billion1 |
| Overall spend with black-owned enterprises | 7.44 | 8.21 | 8.18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spend with black-owned small enterprises | 2.88 | 3.32 | 2.85 |
| Spend with black-owned large enterprises | 4.56 | 4.89 | 5.33 |
| Overall spend with Black women-owned enterprises | 10.64 | 11.67 | 10.70 |
| 1 | In our current year, we have identified and corrected errors in the previously reported figures for procurement spend with black-owned businesses for FY2022 and FY2023. These adjustments reflect our commitment to accurate and transparent reporting and reaffirms our dedication to supporting black-owned businesses. |
The Foundation will strive to identify like-minded partners to leverage the power of ICT to reach more beneficiaries and increase the number of communities impacted by our programmes.
