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NEWS - AWARD-WINNING CSR PROGRAMME CELEBRATES TWO DECADES
July 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the award-winning Containers-in-the-Community programme, Safmarine's pioneering Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme and yet another, tangible example of how Safmarine - and Safmariners - make the difference...
When integral reefer (refrigerated) containers were being phased-in during the 1990s to replace the 'blown air' or 'Conair' porthole reefer containers, a former Safmarine Director, Peter James, saw the potential of using these, well-insulated boxes as much-needed infrastructure in marginalised communities.
Although a ready market existed for these second-hand containers (which were in high demand as offices and accommodation for building sites, amongst others), Safmarine decided instead of selling them, to donate the majority of the containers to communities in need.
Before embarking on the programme, Safmarine commissioned a leading market research company to survey the acceptability of the old containers in less privileged communities. A total of 1000 respondents - comprising homeowners, tenants and informal residents throughout Southern Africa - were interviewed.
The results showed that, while a certain number of the respondents felt a container could be used for basic housing purposes, most respondents preferred to see the containers used in a community support role - as a shop, clinic, pre-school, a library, classroom or resource centre.
This research formed the foundation for our 'Containers-in-the-Community' programme and in July 1992, Safmarine's first container project - a Spazatainer* - was opened in the township of Langa, near Cape Town.
Safmarine launched the Containers-in-the-Community programme by committing 2 500 porthole containers, then valued at R10 million, to the initiative and within two years, 2000 of those containers had already been donated to 300 projects, the vast majority to educational projects where they were used as classrooms, libraries, crèches and adult education training centres.
Unemployment, a concern in many countries around the world, remains one of South Africa's key challenges and the country's high level of joblessness is one of the reasons between 40% and 50% of South Africans live in poverty.
With the support of many of our customers and other partners, Safmarine has used the Containers-in-the-Community programme to help many young South Africans gain access to a decent education. Our aim, in this and our other education-based CSR programmes, has been to empower and enable young people to realise their potential, and to make a difference in the lives of others.
Over the years, the programme has received widespread praise and won numerous awards. In 1996 we were deeply honoured by the words of Nelson Mandela, who, when speaking at Safmarine's 50th anniversary, said, "Your efforts, in particular the provision of badly-needed infrastructure in the form of classrooms, clinics, creches and resource centres, show how actions speak louder than words."
ends
* A spaza is a small 'house shop' which is located in the community it serves,
thereby allowing residents to shop locally. Selling advertising space on the
'spazatainer' provides the opportunity for the shop owner to supplement his
income and keep prices competitive
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NEW IMAGES
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