On 11 November 2015, Carlos Brito, chief executive of global leading beer brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), presented his final offer of US$105.5 billion (£69.8 or £44 pounds per share), to acquire its rival, SABMiller, which the company accepted. The acquisition process had started in September and just over a month later, on 13 October, SABMiller had accepted the offer in principle, but had certain requirements before it would accept. Such a massive transaction could well present hurdles – one being anti-competitive issues.

South Africa had the most rapidly growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world. By 2001, 4.2 million South Africans were infected with HIV. However, the development of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS policy and subsequent action by the government was noticeably absent. A critical role had emerged for business to provide AIDS education, prevention and health care to employees, particularly considering that they would have to bear many of the costs associated with an infected workforce.

It was mid-2008 and Zackie Achmat, founder of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) − widely regarded as one of the most successful HIV/AIDS activist organisations in the world − sat in his office in the historic Westminster House in Adderley Street, Cape Town considering the future. The organisation was facing two related challenges that he was unclear how best to address. Firstly, it was in urgent need of improved professional day-to-day management and administrative skills if it was to sustain its successes of the past 10 years.

“We almost woke up a little bit too late,” said Clifford Mkhize with a wry smile as he discussed his company’s response to the HIV/AIDS crisis. It was April 2005, and the consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic were becoming increasingly obvious. The private sector was taking more responsibility for what had initially been regarded as a public health and social issue, as businesses became aware of the implications of its failure to take proactive steps to halt the epidemic. Mkhize considered his company’s response so far.

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In July 2006, Daleen van Schalkwyk, chief pharmacist at the Johannesburg Hospital, was preparing to move the pharmacy’s outpatients department (OPD), or dispensary, from the temporary accommodation, back into its refurbished premises. The pharmacy, tainted by a history of long queues of frustrated patients, was now presented with an opportunity to change negative perceptions. However, considering the severe resource constraints of public health, her concern was how existing processes could be improved to deliver an efficient, high-quality service.

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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.