The objective of our educational programmes is to empower and equip communities with the knowledge and skills, as well as to provide them with the tools and facilities to become self-reliant and sustainable.

In so doing, we are addressing a number of problems such as skills shortage and unemployment, for the future operational benefit of business and industry in South Africa.

Projects within this area include:

Whole School Development Programme (WSDP)

AfriSam, in partnership with a number of other businesses and government, launched the WSDP in the Itsoseng and Bodibe areas in the North-West province in 2001.

WSDP is a comprehensive programmatic overhaul in the running of the nominated disadvantaged schools, turning them into community-friendly centres of knowledge and practical life skills. This encourages communities to take ownership and interest in their schools.

The programme aims to:

• improve school governance and management
• address school safety and security
• facilitate teacher development and access to additional programmes in Maths, Science and English literacy
• upgrade school infrastructure and sanitation
• provide sporting expertise and resources
• improve community relations through adult basic education and early childhood development programmes

The launch phase of the project in the North-West was such a success that the project was initiated in Copesville and Cato Manor in KwaZulu-Natal, Delportshoop in the Northern Cape and Tembisa in Gauteng.

In addition to this programme, we have adopted an active role in the improvement of educational facilities at Ekwetsembeni Special School in Swaziland. The school caters specifically for learners with special needs. Since adopting the school, we have undertaken some repairs to the school building and supplied kits and equipment for sporting activities at the school. This initiative has already changed the lives of 150 learners enrolled at the school.

Tertiary education and learnerships

In keeping up the fight against skills shortage, we award tertiary education bursaries to engineering students to allow them to further their studies.

For more hands-on training seven Learnership Programmes are offered in different technical specialist areas within the company's operations every year.

Our focus in this area aims to empower our host communities in environmental matters affecting our common heritage and livelihoods.

Every year we invest over R1 million into deserving non-government organisations with an interest in the environment.

Projects within this focus area include:

Learner awareness programmes

We adopted the Visserhok Primary School in the Western Cape province in 1996 to educate the learners about environmental awareness. This relationship has since grown and AfriSam continues to teach the pupils about environmental conservation aspects such as water testing, saving the planet and tree planting on Arbor Day amongst others.

Annual eThekwini World Environment Day poster competition

In partnership with the KZN department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, we hosted a three-day workshop on nature conservation for students from 30 eThekwini schools in 2007.

The event, which formed part of the 2007 eThekwini World Environment Day annual poster competition, was aimed at promoting environmental awareness. It inspired people to take action by challenging learners to create a poster that depicted how the world will look in 2015.

We provided sponsorship for this event, which demonstrates the core focus of our community involvement philosophy.

AfriSam Conservation Bursary

The annual AfriSam Conservation Bursary was introduced in the spirit of promoting environmental education and awareness in our community. Deserving recipients are sponsored to pursue their studies within the field of environmental management.

Two students have graduated from this programme since its launch in 2007 and two students are currently enrolled for their diplomas in Nature Conservation at the South African Wildlife College. The bursary costs about R55 000 per student per year.

Two Oceans AfriSam Activity Centre

We sponsor this centre at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, where each year some 4 500 youngsters undergo interactive environmental education.

Teacher Awareness Programme

This initiative, partially sponsored by AfriSam, is aimed at creating awareness of environmental care amongst teachers at the Delta Environmental Centre in Victory Park, Johannesburg.

Environmental organisation support

We are a corporate member of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) SA and have donated R100 000 to the South African Conservation Education Trust (SACET) as well as 125Ha of conservation worthy land to the development of a new national park in the Knervalkte.

In addition to our two focus areas of community involvement projects, we are actively involved in initiatives that seek to establish and promote provincial or national programmes that support our company's business objectives and community involvement policy.

Programmes within this focus area will typically be of national importance and will be assessed on their own merit.

Examples of these programmes are:

HIV/AIDS – Mpilo/Live-Life campaign

• As part of our commitment to stepping up the fight against HIV/AIDS, we have launched a Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) campaign with the purpose of increasing HIV/AIDS awareness and raising funds for the underprivileged and those affected by the disease. Within the campaign, employees are encouraged to test for HIV/AIDS and know their status. We have turned this initiative into a win-win situation by pledging to donate R500 to charity organisations for each employee who gets tested.
• In 2008, we sponsored seven new Anti-Retro Viral (ARV) dispensing centres to the Clinics Department of Kweneng District in Botswana. The centres, located in rural areas, are currently benefitting 220 000 people who are either infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in the region.
• A new 14-seater Toyota Quantum was donated to the Botswana Retired Nurses' Society (BORNUS) in 2008 to assist them in their mission to provide health care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. The minibus is used to transport BORNUS benefactors daily to and from the centre as well as to take them out for some community activities. BORNUS is a non-governmental organisation that aims to provide quality accessible health care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, orphans, the chronically ill and the aged.

Namibia low-cost housing project

Our operation in Namibia has partnered up with the Shack Dwellers' Federation of Namibia and the Namibian government to address the shortage of houses in the country.

This initiative aims to fulfil the country's Vision 2030 by building houses for the poor. Community members are encouraged to better their lives by building bricks and constructing their own houses. AfriSam has contributed a tremendous amount of resources to this project, including bags of cement, brick-making moulds, cash donations as well as the construction of a number of low cost houses.

Employee Involvement Programme (Mbeu)

Recognising that our employees are major stakeholders in providing additional value to our CSR initiatives, we have introduced an ongoing Employee Involvement Programme, through which employees can become active participants in the quest to give back to the community.

The programme, called Mbeu, which is a TshiVenda word meaning seed, aims to further our vision of building strong foundations in the communities within which we operate.

The initiative involves staff participation programmes in which employees raise funds for various causes and in some instances, get down to physical labour to assist charity organisations.

Staff contributions are managed in partnership with the Charities Aid Foundation, an organisation which specialises in employee giving programmes. AfriSam absorbs the administrative costs of the programme, allowing beneficiary organisations to apply funding directly to the intended projects. To supplement employee contributions, we match a sum of up to R12 000 per employee per annum for every contribution made by a member of staff to one of the approved beneficiary organisations.

Benefactors of Mbeu up to date include The Cancer Association of South Africa, Sparrow Village and Cotlands.

Provision for unforeseen community needs

Although we have a structured Community Involvement plan every year, we realise that not all social requirements can be predicted. As such we make an allowance for emergency circumstances such as natural disasters which may result in urgent needs.

Our commitment to long-term sustainability

We remain committed to bettering the lives of communities within the areas where we operate and draw our employees from. We will continue to contribute to their upliftment with the goal of building self-reliant communities that can sustain themselves into the future.