It is truly wonderful that South Africa has a constitution that aims to protect the rights of our children and in particular their right to an education. It was Nelson Mandela who said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” And we couldn’t agree more. With unemployment sitting at just over 25%, the right to an education has become more essential than ever in our hopes to build a stronger South Africa.
Being part of a key industry in South Africa, we believe that together with Government, and our host communities, we can make a real difference in education, now and for the future. Through our ongoing efforts, we are making a contribution to address the current educational challenges, with a primary focus on our employees and our host communities.
There are many initiatives that form part of our contribution to education, stretching from graduate and bursary programmes to solar-powered internet schools to Adult Basic Education and Training.
Through our Chairman’s Fund, we are working with communities to help effect real change, with a particular focus on education. In 2014 alone, we supported 86 education projects by investing almost R50m through our Chairman’s Fund. These investments range from small grassroots initiatives to major capital-building projects and large-scale service delivery programmes in partnership with provincial and national authorities.
Our Coal business in South Africa set out to make a meaningful contribution through its investment in education. Its aim was to make a positive impact in the lives of thousands of young and aspiring learners through a host of programmes and initiatives.
By investing a total of R400 million over the past 5 years, these programmes aimed to support the communities around our Coal operations by helping to make quality education and school facilities accessible to all. To learn more about what our coal business is doing, read this blog post.
We’re also involved with various initiatives which aim to equip teachers with the skills and training to improve maths and science proficiency.
In addition, our iron ore business, Kumba, recently invested R10.5 million in four solar-powered internet schools – with the first already up and running at Jiyana Secondary School in Tembisa. Not only will these facilities broaden children’s horizons through the wonders of the internet, it will also allow them to access their school curriculum, with all school modules loaded onto the tablets we supply.
These internet schools are designed for isolated and remote areas with limited or no access to electricity. It is these communities that generally have a hard time accessing quality education and have no online connectivity, of which both play a key role in this digital age. Find out more about our solar-powered internet schools initiative here.
We realise that education is an ongoing journey and that tertiary education is key in helping to prepare our youth in contributing to the economy. This is why Kumba Iron Ore and the Sishen Iron Ore Community Development Trust have committed to contributing R46 million and R20 million respectively towards the establishment of the Sol Plaatje University, in Kimberley, Northern Cape.
Together with De Beers, our total contribution to the university will exceed a massive R96 million, including the proposed development of a Centre of Excellence focused on courses related to mining.
It is important for us that the difference we make and the shared value we create are felt by ordinary South Africans. Good education can positively impact on to South Africa’s future generations and help build a country we can all be proud of.