Sasol in Secunda – Partnering for communities support
The company achieves this by making significant investments in programmes that promote education, skills development, environment, community development and small business development.
Partnering for communities support
As a responsible corporate citizen, Sasol continues to meaningfully invest in communities close to its operations with the main objective of sustainably contributing to the broader socio-economic development of the Mpumalanga province.
The company achieves this by making significant investments in programmes that promote education, skills development, environment, community development and small business development.
Sasol has over the years supported education from Early Childhood Development (ECD) phase up to tertiary level.
The company has provided schools in the fenceline communities with infrastructure support for ECD centres and schools to address the overcrowding in classrooms.
Other initiatives include Grade 12 Revision Programmes to prepare learners for their final examinations, Grade 12 awards to acknowledge learners who have performed well, support to technical schools, supporting schools by donating science laboratory equipment, affording schools opportunities to access mobile science laboratories and Sasol Techno X Science Exhibition to showcase different careers that learners can pursue.
Sasol handed over science laboratory equipment to Hoërskool Oosterland
Sasol Secunda recently handed over laboratory equipment to Hoërskool Oosterland as part of the company’s strategic intent to support the education fraternity.
The donated items will enhance teaching and learning of Science subjects at the school. Learners will be able to conduct prescribed experiments that are essential for the conceptual knowledge of Science and contribute to their assessment marks.
On that day the following apparatus were donated to address the need of the school.
Four trolley and rack sets, six electric circuit boards, six Grade 12 organic chemistry sets for use in creating esters, six grade 12 internal resistance, six Grade 11 intermolecular forces, six Grade 10 electrostatic, 25 laboratory coats, 25 safety goggles, two digital balance and four light ray kits (optical kits).
“Sasol in partnership with the Department of Education has been working to benefit communities around our operations and beyond, in terms of improving learners results and offering learnerships as well as bursaries to pursue their tertiary studies. However due to cost constraints the bursaries are suspended.
“We hope that the equipment we have given, will provide the opportunity for Science to come alive by making the theory a reality when the learners do the experiments in class,” said Rethabile Ndjibu Manager Social Impact: Sasol Energy Operations.
Sasol handed over mobile classrooms, jungle gym, stationery and school shoes at Lekwa Municipality farm schools
On 10 December 2020, Sasol Secunda handed over mobile classrooms and a jungle gym, to two Lekwa municipality farm schools, Rondavel Combined School and Azalea Combined School as part of the company’s strategic intent to support Early Childhood Development (ECD). It is through the Sasol for Good Employee Volunteerism Programme that the company donated the stationery packs and school shoes as well as the family mask packs to the learners.
Over the years, Sasol has been building trust-based relationships with its fenceline communities. These relationships enable Sasol to partner with various community structures and organisations to implement interventions that benefit these communities.
School infrastructure development remains key in the Mpumalanga Department of Education’s quest to improve overall education outcomes. Sasol supports the goal of the Department of Education to ensure that there should be no learner who learns under inhabitable or dangerous structures. Through our school infrastructure programme, the company’s partnership with the Department will reduce overcrowding in classrooms with additional mobile classrooms, improving the environment to be conducive to learning.
The Sasol school infrastructure project has the following objectives:
• To address overcrowding challenges burdening schools due to inadequate infrastructure.
• To create a conducive educational environment for learners and educators.
• To strengthen Sasol’s relationship with the Department of Education.
Sasol has partnered with Suka Projects and SA Health to revamp the current food gardens at the school premises to provide children with healthy, nourishing food.
The school’s football and netball grounds were also refurbished to support learners’ physical activities.
food gardens at the school. (Photo: Supplied)
Sasol Enviro-waste management programme
The Enviro-waste programme is supporting communities with rehabilitating of the land, planting of vegetables communal gardens, trees and beautifcation of certain areas of eMbalenhle.
The following are some of the activities done as part of the programme:
• Cleaning of assigned routes
• Educating community about protecting environment and the importance of keeping it clean by collecting, separating and recycling of waste.
• Community volunteers awareness and understanding the concept of keeping their yards and immediate surroundings clean.
• Ambassadors are educated on households waste sorting and providing community members with plastic bags and waste management aids that will support recycling.
• Communal food garden model that will setup a chain reaction of self-education on healthy environmental practices to community by maintaining their own gardens and assisting them with resources to eMbalenhle community
• Creating a seed nursery which will provide seedlings and starter packs for community food gardens. The plan is to embark on large scale community
gardens.
food gardens at the school. (Photo: Supplied)
food gardens at the school. (Photo: Supplied)
Sasol Road traffic Services/ Road Safety Campaign and festive season road block assistance
During the 2020 festive, our Road Trafc Services held a road safety awareness campaign aimed to empower employees on the use of safety belts, consequences of alcohol abuse, consequences of reckless driving, importance of road worthiness of vehicles, driver behaviour and causes of road accidents.
This awareness was done in collaboration with the Road Traffic Management Corporation.
The Road Traffic Services team also joined the South African Police Services (SAPS), Provincial Traffic and Govan Mbeki Municipality Public Safety at a multidisciplinary roadblock to reduce the fatalities on Gert Sibande Region’s roads during the festive season.
Operations have been conducted from the beginning of lockdown and have been intensified for festive season, reports received from 01 to 25 December 2020 depicted that a total of 632 K78 roadblocks have been conducted, 845 435 vehicles have been stopped, 156 408 notices issued, 3 705 vehicles discontinued, 2 555 vehicles impounded and 3014 arrests for various offences.
Sasol supports local SMMEs during Covid-19 pandemic with facemasks manufacturing business opportunities
In this issue two of the local Small Micro Medium Entreprises are featured to share about their business and learnings.
Thandeka Ndlovu/ Lethando Business Enterprise
Thandeka Ndlovu is the Director of Lethando Business Enterprise, which was established in 2018 and formally registered in 2019.
She describes herself as a young person with a vision of becoming a successful entrepreneur, self-motivated, ambitious, passionate, condent, creative,
innovative, risk taker, dedication with a zeal to learn.
Sasol’s Incubation programme allowed Thandeka to become a participant of the face masks manufacturing project during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Her company is one of the 10 SMME’s that were selected to execute the project. There are currently six local youth employed by her business.
Thandeka pursued this type of business because she saw a growing opportunity in the manufacturing and supply of textile among the youth around her community.
Working on this project has taught her many skills such as working under pressure, learning to deliver on time, managing cost and having to negotiate prices with suppliers. She has also learnt that time is one’s most valuable resource, communication can prevent or fix almost any problem and to always take good care of her business and her employees.
Lethando Business Enterprise offers the following services and products:
• Food supply: Supply and delivery of Eskort products
• Textile manufacturing: Manufacturing and supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Event Management and Catering: Catering for special events
“My brother always encourages me, that you should ‘never sleep on an idea that visits you in a day’, I would like to encourage every aspiring young entrepreneur, that they should do a research, learn more about what business they want to get in. That there are massive opportunities for entrepreneurs and lots of sponsors out awaiting great ideas to sponsor into fruition,” concluded
Thandeka.
Brian Hlongwa/ KEN24 Graphics
Brian Hlongwa is a young entrepreneur who studied graphic design at Witwatersrand University. He did corporate branding to expand his skills that made him eventually start his own branding shop.
After many years of hard work, sacrifice and determination, the business KEN24 Graphics was established in 2011. The business has 26 people in its employ.
The company offers an array of branding solutions, such as logo design, vehicle branding, custom uniform manufacturing, shop signage, billboards, corporate gifts (diaries, pens, squeeze bottles, USB’s, umbrellas), customised outdoor signage (gazebos, ags, banners), customised sports kits and equipment etc.
“The opportunity for me to be part of the Sasol face masks project came about when my supplier development coach saw one of my adverts on Whatsapp and was impressed by the work we were doing as we had ventured in the bulk production of fabric masks, therefore we were selected to be part of the project,” says Brian.
The face masks project was a pilot bulk production, therefore, time management was one of Brian’s main learning points as they had to balance production with real-time delivery.
“Personally team management was a lesson I learnt on the move, motivating the team, making sure everyone is pitching in and doing their fair share of duties, noticing each individual’s strength and weakness to eventually get everything flowing seamlessly,” said Brian.
Brian shared his outlook of life, that is summed up as hard work, consistency, focus and not giving up.
The first step is to start, stay hungry and determined as you were in the beginning of your vision to become a successful entrepreneur.
