Social, cultural and relationship capital
We acknowledge our responsibility as a corporate citizen to support the communities in which we operate and to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country as a whole.
Overview
At KAP, our social responsibility programme focuses primarily on projects that address poverty and unemployment. We also support youth-focused projects that enhance education, nutrition, and community development in the areas in which we operate.
All of our divisions identify and are involved in social projects that are aligned with their strategies and are in close proximity to their operations. They actively engage with community members and work with community organisations, non-profit organisations (‘NPOs’), and service delivery organisations to develop appropriate projects and to execute them successfully to the benefit of the recipients. A few examples are mentioned below.
Human rights
KAP subscribes to the principles of human rights, as expressed in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and the 10 principles set out in the United Nations Global Compact (2000). Human rights principles are incorporated into all of our policies and practices, and are an integral component of our code of ethics.
Community relations
Some of our manufacturing businesses operate in communities that have been negatively affected by unemployment, poverty, poor service delivery, and related socio-economic issues. As many of our workers live in these communities, we are deeply committed to ensuring that they are stable and sustainable. Each division therefore deals directly with the local communities situated near their operations through recognised community-based structures in order to facilitate positive socio-economic development in the area. Our approach to community relations is based on building mutually respectful, beneficial, and lasting relationships with all community stakeholders through transparency, social justice, integrity, and accountability.
Given the extent to which we engage with communities, our community relations strategy enables our businesses to maintain mutually beneficial and stable relations with communities and local authorities in the areas in which they are situated.
For example, the Durban-based PET plant of our polymers division, Safripol, established a community engagement forum in 2016 to facilitate discussions with local communities regarding potential employment opportunities following an upgrade to the plant. The forum continues to meet on a regular basis to discuss various issues of importance to affected communities, including environmental issues, community health and safety, employment, and the provision of financial support to local schools.
In another example, as our PG Bison cluster in the Eastern Cape is the biggest employer in the region, we have a great deal of responsibility to the communities in Ugie and Maclear, where our forests and board plant are situated. We use an integrated community engagement approach to facilitate relations with these communities. Our activities include a community forum that is managed and supported by the local and regional municipality, direct engagement with the provincial government, and partnerships with local taxi associations and small business associations. We also support the local municipality in the provision of key infrastructure and services.
Our logistics businesses engage with communities in a similar way. Unitrans South Africa has a 36-year service relationship with Richards Bay Minerals (‘RBM’). As incidents of violence and unrest frequently occur in the communities neighbouring RBM operations, Unitrans has partnered with the leadership of the local traditional authority and other community structures to address some of the causes of this instability. This partnership has gained the required level of acceptance within these communities, and enables us to make a positive contribution to social development and to run our business operations effectively. On various mine personnel transport contracts, Unitrans Passenger also partners with communities.
Community development and outreach
In the area of community development and outreach, we support a number of initiatives across the country. One of these is the PG Bison Safe-Hub in Knysna in the Western Cape. The Safe-Hub programme is an award-winning, world-class, evidence-based, impact- measured youth development programme that uses sport and education to intervene in the long-term trajectory of its participants’ lives, creating hope and opportunity through training, education, and pathways to work and leadership. Safe-Hub, which is based on a social franchise model, was founded in Khayelitsha in Cape Town in 2008 and has since developed a national presence, with Safe-Hub programmes operating in Gugulethu, Diepsloot, Tembisa, Alexandra, Soweto
and Knysna.
Another KAP-supported project is the Heartlands Baby Sanctuary in Somerset West in the Western Cape, which is a temporary residential safe-care facility that can accommodate 25 children (up to the age of six) at a time. It provides specialised care for children in urgent need of care and protection, who are placed at the sanctuary by court order. The facility, which is a registered child and youth care centre, has cared for 280 children over the past five years.
In addition, KAP has been partnering with the sani2c initiative since its inception in 2004. sani2c is a three-day mountain bike event that attracts over 2 000 riders per event and provides permanent and temporary employment to the local community. The event has a positive impact on a very wide community and provides much- needed funds and employment in the area. Sixteen local schools are now the recipients of the funds raised through entries to the race and sponsorships. The sani2c Community Development Trust, in partnership with the Southern Lodestar Foundation’s Breakfast Programme, feeds almost 2 000 school children daily along the sani2c route.
Education
Rural schools in South Africa are often under- resourced and face significant challenges in terms of infrastructure, resourcing, and curriculum delivery. Since 2009, PG Bison has partnered with an organisation called Infundo to create and implement
the Ugie CREATE Initiative education and community development project. Infundo is an independent Level 2 B-BBEE social enterprise consultancy specialising in educational development throughout the country, including the rural areas of Ugie and Maclear in the Eastern Cape, where PG Bison operates. Since the inception of the project, pass rates have improved significantly. Last year, one of the Ugie CREATE Initiative-sponsored schools achieved a matric pass rate of 100%.
With the advent of Covid-19, Infundo facilitated a partnership between the CREATE Initiative schools and St Peter’s College, a private school in Johannesburg. St Peter’s College agreed to share its online lessons and resources to ensure that the learners in these schools would be able to keep up with the curriculum while lockdown restrictions kept them at home. Not only was the partnership able to do this through various levels of lockdown, it has also significantly improved the quality of lessons being delivered in rural areas.
In the southern Cape, PG Bison works with the Knysna Educational Trust to manage two crèches in Brackenhill and Ruigtevlei. The division supplied and maintains the classrooms at these facilities and provides funding for three educators.
Our Polymers division, Safripol, also supports two educational programmes, the LUSA Community Chest Impact Fund and the Komati Foundation. Further, Restonic, Safripol, and Unitrans Passenger again sponsored 38 learners with disabilities at the Skills Development Corporation. These learners, who are registered with their relevant SETAs, are being taught work-related skills.
Nutrition
In communities affected by poverty, nutritional support for vulnerable people, including young children and learners, is an invaluable social contribution.
Unitrans South Africa therefore encourages its employees to volunteer one working day per month to repackage food for FoodForward SA. This is an NPO that collects surplus food from manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers, and repackages it
for distribution to early childhood development organisations, women’s empowerment groups, and day-care centres, reaching nearly 500 000 at-risk individuals. Unitrans has also donated a truck to FoodForward SA and maintains it on an ongoing basis. In addition, the division provides logistics assistance for the distribution of food parcels as part of the Feed the Nation campaign, as well as funding for meals at the Steinthal Children’s Home in Tulbagh and Emmanuel Educare, which provides nutritional support for children in crèches.
PG Bison in the southern Cape supports the local Brackenhill community, which has a feeding scheme for residents in need. The division has provided the scheme with gas stoves and supplies it with gas and ingredients that that enable them to feed more than 60 children a day. It also partners with an NPO called Judea Hope, as well as farmers and businesses in the area, to support a feeding scheme in the Ugie area. The scheme supports seven local crèches by distributing meals to over 300 pre-school children every day and distributes food parcels to elderly people in the community. Five vegetable tunnels that PG Bison established at the early childhood development centres in the area continue to produce vegetables that are used to supplement the food parcels. The tunnels have also created employment for the local community, and any excess vegetables are sold to generate income for the schools. In FY21, the division provided R400 000 in funding for the expansion of the vegetable garden project. The expansion was undertaken to accommodate a further group of people from the community, who will be using the garden to grow vegetables as a source of income. The funding was used to install additional fencing, purchase more gardening implements, and to install reservoirs and pumps.
Human rights policy