Monthly Archives: March 2010
" alt="The lights are on, but is anyone home?" />The lights are on, but is anyone home?
31 March 2010
Guest contributor Deon Robbertze is Executive Creative Director at Zoom Advertising and Creative Director of Ogilvy Earth.
“œSustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
The above definition, from the United Nations Brutland commission conducted in 1983, is self-explanatory to most who read it, but when it comes to putting the sentiment into practice, the majority of brands and corporations in South Africa are operating with a “œbusiness as usual” attitude. This is despite the financial wake-up call of the last year, and the overwhelming statistics about climate change which clearly indicate that immediate action is required.
Tshikululu on air – branding and CSI
Tshikululu’s Executive : Public Affairs, Paul Pereira talked about branding and corporate social investment on SAFm’s Media @ SAFm show on Sunday 28 March 2010.
Listen to the interview here.
Tshikululu film – Leading Social Investors
30 March 2010
Tshikululu has just completed production of a short film that details the company’s approach to community grantmaking. Leading social investors Nicky Oppenheimer, Sizwe Nxasana, Barry Swartzberg, Thandi Orleyn and Clem Sunter talk about what works best in corporate social investment.
Then, Tshikululu chairman Godfrey Gomwe and CEO Tracey Henry explain why Tshikululu has become the home of these top social investors.
View Leading Social Investors here.
Study on student retention, graduation and beyond
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has released research conducted in response to multiple concerns that South Africa’s higher education (HE) throughput rates are too low. The study seeks to provide a clearer understanding of the factors shaping the pathways of students into, through and out of HE institutions and into the labour market.
Seven institutions were included in the study: the University of Fort Hare; the University of the Western Cape (UWC); Peninsula Technikon; Stellenbosch University (SU); the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits); the University of the North; and Pretoria Technikon.
The study suggests that student poverty is the most important issue to be addressed if the student dropout rate is to be remedied.
A full description of the material covered in the seven chapters of the study can be found on HSRC’s website. The study is available for free download, or to purchase.
Lending institutions are not giving up on Africa
Lending institutions are not giving up on Africa despite decades of abuse of aid flows and concerns over whether aid even works as a tool to improve growth and alleviate poverty.
Over the past 60 years, at least $1trillion (US) of development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Still, Zambian-born economist Dambisa Moyo, the author of Dead Aid, notes that real per-capita income today is lower than it was in the 1970s, and over 50% of the continent’s population “” more than 350m people “” live on less than a dollar a day .
Numbers like this have not stopped Europe from aggressively trying to boost development.
Read more at the Financial Mail.
" alt="The Occurence of PDI beneficiary trusts in BBBEE transactions" />The Occurence of PDI beneficiary trusts in BBBEE transactions
23 March 2010
In South Africa, PDI beneficiary trusts are employed in a grander nation-building project, which consciously subscribes to the idea that development must be the responsibility of all sectors of society.
Community Trusts are increasingly popular as a vehicle for driving Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE). However, there is very limited documented knowledge on the frequency of their use, their fitness for the purpose of furthering BBBEE goals, or the factors that enable and constrain their effectiveness.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the realisation of the developmental objectives described in the BBBEE Codes of Good Practice persistently eludes Community Trusts and that even the immediate outcome for private enterprise – meeting the Ownership target obligation – is inherently problematic. Considering the importance of BBBEE to the nation-building project, and the prominent controversies concerning its implementation, it is clear that an evidence base to confirm or contest assumptions about the utility of trust vehicles in realizing BBBEE objectives is sorely needed.
R9 million investment for Wits Engineering students
17 March 2010
As part of its commitment to improving engineering standards in South Africa, Anglo American has made a substantial social investment of R9 million in the University of the Witwatersrand’s Chamber of Mines 4th Quadrant Engineering Building Project, part of the Wits Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment. The investment is in line with Anglo American’s longstanding support of the Wits University, and a focus on the development of education in South Africa.
URA warn on land reform proposal
16 March 2010
The Unit for Risk Analysis at the South African Institute of Race Relations has described the proposed nationalisation of agricultural land in South Africa as a potentially cataclysmic event for South Africa’s economy.
The Unit was reacting to a Government report titled “Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, Strategic Plan 2010-2013″ that proposed two future land use models for South Africa. The first model proposed declaring all productive land as a national asset. Inherent in the proposal was that ownership of the land would then rest with the State. The State would then have the authority to declare who could work the land, for what purposes, and under what conditions.
FirstRand Volunteers Programme’s Desiree Storey talks employee volunteering
15 March 2010
Desiree Storey, Manager of the FirstRand Volunteers Programme, will be talking about the Programme’s involvement in CAF’s Corporate Volunteers Week tomorrow evening on Radio Today.
The FirstRand Volunteers Programme is a unique project comprised of staff from each of the company’s divisions, namely First National Bank, Rand Merchant Bank, Momentum and Wesbank. The programme boasts a remarkable 22% participation rate, with staff donating their time or portions of their salaries completely voluntarily. Since the launch of the programme in 2003, more than R12.3 million has been contributed in time and money to charity organisations selected by the programme. This amount has been matched rand-for-rand by FirstRand.
The Volunteers Programme complements the work done by the FirstRand Foundation, which is managed by Tshikululu Social Investments.
The interview will be broadcast on Tuesday 16 March 2010 at 19:50 as part of Radio Today’s Business Power Hour.
" alt="Illiteracy costs SA in potential GDP" />Illiteracy costs SA in potential GDP
10 March 2010
Illiteracy costs SA up to R550bn annually in potential gross domestic product, says a report by four Stellenbosch University academics.The report says: “Policy makers and researchers should pay attention to how SA can obtain nationally representative, objective measures of adult literacy.” It estimates the figure at a “plausible” 75%.
Read more at the Financial Mail.
