The Anglo American Chairman’s Fund and the De Beers Chairman’s Fund have provided the Alice Campus of the University of Fort Hare with two R3.9 million grants (R7.8 million in total).
15 July 2010
The Anglo American Chairman’s Fund and the De Beers Chairman’s Fund have provided the Alice Campus of the University of Fort Hare with two R3.9 million grants (R7.8 million in total). These grants were used for the upgrading of the National Archive Heritage and Cultural Studies (NAHECS) Building, which has now been completed and was officially reopened today. With these grants, the NAHECS will continue to contribute to the upliftment of education in the country and the study of national heritage.
The NAHECS is devoted to the heritage of South Africa, housing the National Liberation Archives and important heritage documents, amongst other items of historical and national importance. The genesis of the project can be traced back to early 2007, when the University of Fort Hare approached both the Anglo American and the De Beers Chairman’s Funds to consider assisting with the project. Subsequently, a proposal was brought forward to link the two buildings that flank the entrance to the university with a facility that would provide research, teaching, exhibition and social space opportunities.
Head of Media and External Communications for Anglo American South Africa and Trustee of the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund, Dr Pranill Ramchander says that the project forms a vital part of Anglo American’s wider social objectives.
“Anglo American is fully committed to projects such as these, ones of national importance and scope. They are essential to the growth and development of South Africa,” he says. “In addition, this partnership will further extend our historical relationship that we have enjoyed with the University of Fort Hare, and will create a legacy for future generations, who will now have access to crucial records of South African history.”
This project has been chosen as the University’s flagship project, and is directly associated with the cultural centre and the De Beers Centenary Art Gallery. The cultural centre was a major investment made previously on the campus by the then Anglo American and De Beers Chairman’s Funds.
“De Beers, as one of South Africa’s longest economic contributors, is privileged to be involved in the preservation of the country’s heritage and history. Without grants such as these the true history of South Africa could be lost and therefore the realities of the struggle unknown to the generations to come; something that we could not allow,” concludes Barend Petersen, acting Managing Director of the De Beers Consolidated Mines.
Download press release [PDF]
For further information, please contact:
Anglo American South Africa
Dr Pranill Ramchander, Media Relations
Tel: +27 (0)11 638 2592
De Beers Group
Sakhile Ngcobo, Public and Corporate Affairs – De Beers Group
Tel : +27 (0) 82 806 1394, [email protected]
Notes to Editors:
About The University of Fort Hare
Fort Hare came into existence in 1916 and is, historically, the oldest black University in Southern Africa. Throughout its existence, Fort Hare graduates have come from as far north as Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria, and arrived with the expectation of receiving a first-class tertiary education.
Now over ninety years old, the university is serving a total of 8,548 students from its three campuses in Alice, Bisho and East London. Its five faculties and ten schools cover the range from undergraduate diplomas, through bachelors and honours degrees to masters and doctoral level studies.
About the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund
The Anglo American Chairman’s Fund, throughout its nearly 60 year history, has worked with thousands of ordinary South Africans who do extraordinary things to uplift their fellow citizens. As the leading corporate donor in South Africa, the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund is committed to growing an informed understanding of the challenges these people face. It applies its resources to help these change champions best achieve their visions by giving them access to funding, guiding and advising organisations when needed, and offering networking opportunities. Ultimately, it strives to create environments in which ordinary people are given support to assume greater control over their lives.
About the De Beers Chairman’s Fund
Over the years, the De Beers Chairman’s Fund has come to acknowledge the power of partnership and proactive engagement with all key role-players (mining operations, government, civil society, project champions and beneficiary communities). Building relationships with an understanding of the communities in which De Beers operates lies at the heart of the Fund’s work. The De Beers Fund focuses in South Africa on the Northern Cape, Free State and Limpopo communities associated with its five diamond mining operations.