Most companies know the advantages that corporate social investment (CSI) has for the sustainability of business. By going beyond professional obligations and giving back to poorer communities through sustainable development, they serve a necessary social function. They are contributing to the development of South Africa and its people.

The Wits Business School Journal contacted a number of companies to find out what they were doing for their CSI programmes. Shoprite The Shoprite Group focuses on women, children and senior citizens within its CSI policies. The Shoprite Checkers Women of the Year Awards acknowledge exceptional women in five social development categories. The Shoprite Community Network supports organisations that make a difference in their communities, and Shoprite Mobile Soup Kitchens have served over eight million cups of soup since their launch. Other initiatives include Christmas gift-wrapping promotions, the Winter Golden Trolley initiative, the Cuppa for Cansa fundraiser, the Cansa Shavathon and the Hermanus Wheels & Runners race.

Standard Bank
Standard Bank invests in health, education and enterprise development within 46 local communities, to help grow an economically strong population by ensuring health and longevity. It employs a research-based approach to understanding the socio-economic needs of communities by engaging with the government, other businesses and community organisations.

Standard Bank focuses on 115 schools in 46 municipalities, where it has identified security, emotional wellness and hunger as areas that need attention for effective teaching and learning to take place. It has established a support programme for orphans and vulnerable children in these schools, and a Standard Bank Scholarship Programme for pupils. The bank provides skilled support and funding to various organisations. For example, to help resolve issues in Child Welfare South Africa’s accounting system, the bank seconded a senior accountant to identify problems in its financial controls and put systems and processes in place to fix these.

Discovery
Discovery aims to support projects that make people healthier and enhance their lives. Its focus spans primary healthcare service delivery, infrastructure support and capacity building through education and training. Its CSI initiatives focus on 32 community health projects over eight provinces. It has partnered with Unicef in support of the Department of Health to address the low reach of immunisation coverage for children, and donated R3.5 million towards the refurbishment of the Paediatrics ICU and High Care units at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, in partnership with Carte Blanche.

It supports education and training through the Lehurutshe programme of the Wits Centre for Rural Health in North West, and the Umthombo Youth Development Foundation in northern KwaZulu-Natal. after-school and media centres, supported the Star School project, sponsored sports coaching clinics and career guidance centres, and bought uniforms for underprivileged learners.

Peermont
Peermont projects attempt to bridge the gap in education, develop much-needed skills in the job market, develop entrepreneurial skills and job-creation opportunities and contribute towards environmental enrichment.

The Peermont Children’s Trust provides scholarships to underprivileged university graduates and to pupils under the Lesedi Industrial Skills Programme. The Peermont School Support Programme is developing centres of excellence in seven high schools and their feeder primary schools, by establishing computer labs and improving their educational programmes.

The Peermont Children’s Trust has erected jungle gyms, established after-school and media centres, supported the Star School project, sponsored sports coaching clinics and career guidance centres, and bought uniforms for underprivileged learners.

Massmart
Massmart is involved in educational initiatives through school nutrition and literacy programmes. Through its funding of primary school nutrition, Walmart aims to ensure that future generations receive a meaningful education that assists in building and strengthening the social and economic fabric of South Africa.

Makro provides funding to established feeding schemes, such as the African Children’s Feeding Scheme. By distributing mobile kitchens to schools, Game’s Ama-Lunchbox campaign provides a hygienic space to prepare food for the schools participating in the education department’s nutrition programme.

Builders’ Warehouse provides schools with vegetable tunnels to enable them to grow fresh vegetables to feed pupils.

Massmart Holdings makes regular biannual donations to Foodbank South Africa for distribution to the needy.

Pick n Pay
Pick n Pay focuses its CSI on education, health and well-being, poverty alleviation and entrepreneurship development. The School Club initiative provides educational material, including lesson aids and posters, to more than 1 300 schools, assisting 78 000 teachers to educate 1.8 million learners.

In partnership with the government, the Kids in Parks project enables children from disadvantaged communities to enjoy three-day camping trips in national parks. Pick n Pay also helps to raise funds for the Red Cross Children’s  Hospital in Cape Town. In its 12-year partnership with the Quadriplegic Association, Pick n Pay has managed to raise funds that assisted in building five independent living centres for disabled people. Pick n Pay assists The Sunflower Fund to raise funds to help increase the number of bone marrow donors on the registry.

It also provides stock for the Swop Shop, where recyclable goods can be exchanged for food and basic items. The Raymond Ackerman Academy of entrepreneurial development has trained 300 students so far, and the Ackerman Pick n Pay Enterprise Development Foundation supports 251 projects financially.

Murray & Roberts
Murray & Roberts supports development in education as a means of addressing issues of poverty, unemployment and the shortage of critical skills needed in the engineering and construction industry. Through its Child Welfare Fund, it supports a range of community projects caring for orphans and vulnerable children.

Murray & Roberts established the Letsema B-BBEE initiative, comprising four trusts, as a vehicle through which it could extend its black economic empowerment ownership to a broad base, including staff and community organisations. The Letsema Sizwe Community Trust promotes and enables the social upliftment of designated groups. It has allocated R39.4 million towards empowering these groups. Murray & Roberts is also partnered with 20 organisations that advance the pool of talent available in the education system and the engineering industry. It contributes financially to the work of universities, science centres and civil society organisations that present comprehensive project strategies.

FirstRand
The FirstRand Foundation focuses on education; HIV/Aids palliative care; agricultural food security projects; arts, culture and heritage projects; conservation initiatives and community care. The FirstRand Volunteers Programme supports and encourages employees to donate their time and money to a charity organisation of their choice. The related charities support orphaned and vulnerable children, community engagement, health, education, community care, animal welfare, people with disabilities and the elderly.

In the 2010/11 financial year, staff raised funds to donate new school shoes to underprivileged learners and partnered with the Bobs for Good Foundation, which coordinated the manufacture and delivery of the shoes to schools.

MultiChoice
The DStv Film Skills Development Programme trains emerging film-makers. DStv also installs Roundabout PlayPumps in primary schools across the country, which pump water as children play on roundabouts. The company is also involved in planting trees in impoverished communities. M-Net’s Television Awards for Good competition encourages film-makers to produce pro bono public service announcements for community initiatives.

Other M-Net initiatives include the Naledi literacy project for junior school pupils across four provinces, and a breast cancer awareness campaign, which delivers financial aid for vehicles that dispense breast cancer tests and related educational material in needy communities. SuperSport’s Let’s Play initiative encourages children to participate actively in sports by providing equipment for children’s sporting events.

Anglo American
Anglo American aims to tackle the root causes of developmental issues. In 2010, US$65.9 million was spent in South Africa on education and training, health, welfare and community development. This was spent in 14 social development categories – including education and training, health and welfare, and community development. The company supported over 750 projects in 2010. The Anglo American Chairman’s Fund also assists many projects,  including its flagship project, the Rural Schools Programme. The project provides infrastructure – mainly in the form of classrooms, laboratories, ablution blocks and libraries – for schools in rural areas.

The Anglo American Chairman’s Fund assists organisations that provide home-based care to terminally ill patients, builds public health facilities and sponsors youth awareness programmes. It assists organisations that care for the elderly, the disabled and children, and supports initiatives in the entrepreneurial development and policy sectors. One of its most long- standing projects is its support of the African Children’s Feeding Scheme, which provides food parcels for more than 1 000 families a month and feeds some 32 000 children each day.

Woolworths
Woolworths promotes sustainability projects that incorporate food security and child safety. The EduPlant programme, in partnership with Absa and Engen, imparts skills to enable learners and communities to grow their own healthy food.

With the help of the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, it has developed a focus on safety in its children’s clothing and babywear, by incorporating features such as nickel-free poppers, lock-stitched buttons, engineered-in sun protection, as well as reflective strips on clothing and non-slip soles on children’s shoes.

Woolworths has partnered with Heartbeat, which provides assistance and support to children in child- and granny-headed households around the country. Woolworths is committed to using its surplus food and clothing to contribute to poverty alleviation in South Africa.

SAB
The SAB Responsible Trader Programme, Tavern Intervention Programme and Project Promote are focused on discouraging, and therefore combating, alcohol abuse in South Africa. The company also runs the SAB U/21 regional football league sports development programme and the SAB KickStart programme – an enterprise development initiative that provides training, grants and start-up capital for small businesses.

SAB’s investment in high-impact programmes prioritises the prevention of alcohol-related road deaths through Accident Evidence Centres and the Reality Check awareness campaign. It also raises awareness of foetal alcohol syndrome, responsible trading and under-age drinking. In addition, SAB responds to urgent community and individual needs, such as disaster relief.

Nedbank
Among other corporate social initiatives, Nedbank Capital aims to further its vision of building intellectual sustainability. Nedbank Capital sponsors the ChessKids Academy, which teaches Grade 5 pupils to play chess. Through a partnership with the Gauteng Department of Education, the programme has become part of the curriculum in 65 underprivileged primary schools.

The Spell It programme helps improve literacy levels at primary school level through the Vocabulary Assistance Programme and Spelling Bee competitions.