PPC’s community investment goes beyond financial assistance this Mandela Day

PRESS RELEASE
PPC’s community investment goes beyond financial assistance this Mandela Day
As a responsible and contributing corporate citizen, PPC has committed to improving the lives
of all South Africans this Mandela Day through its participation in the Growing Up Africa
Mandela Day Challenge, confirmed Kabira Akoob, Manager Group CSI at PPC.
Akoob said this today while discussing the group’s plans to further contribute towards building
social cohesion in the communities in which it operates. One such initiative is the 2,100 m2
education campus situated on a 7,000m2 site in Devland Soweto. The R40 million-rand
project, was identified as an ideal fit to the company’s overall social corporate investment
mandate. PPC’s decision to partner with the (non-governmental organisation (NGO) - Public
Benefit Organisation (PBO), Growing Up Africa contributing to the building of an educational
campus supports this mandate.
Through such initiatives, PPC aims to deliver lasting benefits to local communities by
supporting mutually beneficial partnerships that contribute to social and economic
development - creating long-lasting solutions to shared challenges. “Our partnership with
Growing Up Africa, began late last year when we donated R150 000 towards the campus
building and we are proud to now be amongst the 136 companies, to have contributed
materials and community labour funding, towards this initiative,” explained Akoob.
As part of the PPC Mandela Day Challenge, staff members, including the PPC executive team
will attempt to fill 1000 sand bags which will be used to fill the cavity walls of the Devland
campus building. In keeping with the 67 minutes for Mandela theme, PPC will also donate R67
for every bag filled on the day. As an added layer to its contribution efforts to raise more funds,
the company has challenged other project partners to match or beat this donation towards the
community labour cost to complete the construction of the project.
“Since 2001, we have gradually redefined our social investment projects to focus more on
enhanced community partnerships, environmental stewardship and employee involvement.
As a responsible corporate citizen, we are committed to supporting causes and initiatives that
contribute to measurable, meaningful and impactful benefit to the communities we serve,” said
Akoob.
“Success in corporate social investment is measured differently from success in business or
government,” says Deborah Terhune, founder and director of Growing Up Africa. “We
ultimately measure the success of our projects by the degree to which they expand access to
the fundamental human right to social justice, economic empowerment and a healthy
sustainable environment.”
Terhune added that changing the way people live, both globally and locally, through multidisciplinary rigour and with compassion for humankind, has inspired the partnership between
PPC and Growing Up Africa in one of the most ambitious humanitarian projects being built in
South Africa today.
Each year, PPC invests in excess of R10 million in community development initiatives aimed
at empowering marginalised groups through upliftment and partnership programmes. PPC’s
Corporate Social Investment in South Africa include, amongst others, Learner Focus Week
and Mobile Science Labs.
“Building on our rich 125-year legacy, we remain committed to creating value for the company
and our stakeholders. With this in mind, our CSI philosophy is designed across pillars of
community infrastructure investment, regional socio-economic development and education -
each aimed at benefitting South Africa and the rest of our African markets” Akoob concludes.
Ends.