CC-Projects in Africa

MAN's social commitment focuses on projects that relate to the Sustainable Development Goals. By financing SOS Kinderdorf projects, the SDG "Education for All" is promoted in particular.

In 2020 the focus continues to be on the SOS Kinderdorf Africa education programme and the SOS Kinderdorf Kality site in Ethiopia.

MAN regards good vocational training as a key prerequisite for finding ways to escape poverty. Together with SOS Kinderdorf, the company sponsors a variety of school and vocational training projects for disadvantaged children and young people all over the world, including Africa.

Ikhwezi Lomso is a pre-primary school which was built from scratch through a partnership between Volkswagen Community Trust and "1Hour for the future". Launched in 2012, the school has 6 teachers and gives over 90 children in Kariega (formerly known as Uitenhage) access to a well-balanced early-childhood education. The school follows a Montessori curriculum and trains unemployed graduates as Montessori teachers.

Montessori is a method of education that is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play.  

Education empowers girls
Volkswagen Financial Services South Africa paid for renovating and equipping the laboratory at the Lofentse Girls High School in Soweto. It was officially handed over to the school in 2017. Volkswagen Financial Services South Africa embarked on the partnership with the SAME Foundation as part of its corporate responsibility initiative. The focus of this not-for-profit organization is on healthcare, as well as education, and aims to give children and youngsters from very poor communities the chance of educational advancement. The organization identified and supported 50 highly effective and sustainable projects in South Africa, including the Lofentse Girls High School.

"Many hands make light work" is the message behind the name of the "Show of Hands" project. Launched by Volkswagen on the initiative of the workforce, this volunteer program enables the company and its employees to make a difference in local communities. Since its inception in 2011, we have hosted over 30 events with over 3000 volunteers participating. The impact includes:

• 31 Schools, Hospitals & Homes renovated
  
• 65 Mobile Libraries & 400k Books Donated
  
• Donated sanitary pads & hygienic wear to 5 Primary Schools reaching over 450 girls in 2019
  
• Over 371k meals packed with Rise Against Hunger providing food for 200k children p.a.

In 2019 Show of Hands (SOH) winner of “Creating & Measuring for Real Value” category at the FirstRand Beyond Painting Classrooms Conference in September 2019.

In 2011, Volkswagen of South Africa partnered with Raizcorp and opened the doors of the Volkswagen Support Centre in Uitenhage. The aim is to provide business support for enthusiastic, growth-hungry entrepreneurs by offering them a platform that fosters business growth while providing coaching and guidance which can be translated into practical business success. The Volkswagen Business Support Centre has incubated 106 businesses since its inception. The positive impact is that 592 people are now employed in these businesses with a combined impact on 4330 people.

In partnership with Raizcorp, Volkswagen of South Africa has run the Volkswagen Business Support Centre in Uitenhage since 2011. Its objective is to provide passionate and ambitious company founders with a platform of their own. The knowledge and advice shared there is to help the entrepreneurs achieve practical commercial success. The Volkswagen Business Support Centre has helped 30 companies start up since it was opened, generating a total of 531 new jobs.

loveLife is a youth-focused HIV prevention initiative in South Africa. To date, Volkswagen has invested R26 million in the KwaNobuhle loveLife Y-Centre. The center addresses individual and societal high-risk behavior by combining clinical and psychosocial services, community-level outreach and multimedia campaigns. Since it first opened in November 2012, more than 300,000 young people have visited the center. The loveLife initiative covers 24 schools in the KwaNobuhle area, engaging young people through outreach and support programs implemented by peer educators known as Ground Breakers.

The aim of the Dealer Principal Apprentice Programme (DPAP) is to increase the number of Black Dealer Principals in the Dealer Network, as part of our commitment to transformation and diversity. Also, to identify high potential candidates and accelerate the development of Black Management for our Dealer Network.

The DPAP was piloted in 2011 over a 30-month period and the first 5 candidates graduated in 2013. The success of the pilot programme led to a 2nd Wave which was launched in January 2015. 16 delegates met the selection criteria to participate in a 24-month programme and successfully graduated in November 2016. 8 of the 16 graduated delegates have been promoted into Dealer Principal Positions across our Group’s Brands.

As a result of the success of these 2 programmes, VWSA committed to continue the development initiative and co-fund a third intake in 2018 with 12 delegates. The Wave 3 delegates completed the programme at the end of 2019 and successfully graduated in January 2020. During the course of the programme 3 of the candidates had already been appointed as Dealer Principals.

We introduced Wave 4 of the programme at the beginning of 2021 with an intake of 10 new candidates. The candidates will undergo a rigorous development programme for 18 months. The training will include on-the-job training, classroom learning, e-learning and personalised coaching and mentoring, while the candidates continue to work full-time at their dealerships.

The “Dealer Principal Apprentice Program” is a training program that aims to increase the number of black business owners in the dealer network as part of the general strategy for transformation and diversity. The program was launched in 2011 and the first five participants completed their training in 2013. The DPAP was extended in view of its great success; 17 more participants were admitted to the program in 2017.

The DPAP runs for 24 months and is a blended learning model: Apart from practical training, it comprises lessons at a vocational college, e-learning, and personalized coaching and mentoring, while the candidates continue working full-time in dealership.

Removal of invasive species of plants from around our properties and replacing them with indigenous plants. Removal of grass and replace it with Spekboom to reduce water and maintenance requirement. Spekboom is an excellent plant for capturing CO₂, and will be planted where possible. In 2021, a 1600sqm VW logo as well as a Carbon Bank was planted.

The VW Legacy Literacy Program was launched in 2015, with the aim of ensuring that all children in Kariega (formerly known as Uitenhage) are functionally literate (able to read with comprehension) by age 10 or grade 3. The ability to read fluently and with meaning is the foundational skill which children should master at primary school, but research studies show that some 60% of South African learners (especially in previously disadvantaged areas) are not yet able to read with understanding even after 4 years of schooling.

In order to improve learning outcomes in schools, VWSA partnered with experts in the field of education to design a comprehensive, holistic literacy program comprising a spectrum of interventions targeting the key individuals involved (learners, teachers, parents and caregivers).

1. Literacy Centers at Primary Schools
   Regular, individualized support for children in Grades 2 and 3 who are identified as at risk of falling behind. In 2019 we launched 3 additional Literacy Centers in Uitenhage bringing the total number of literacy centers to 5.
   
   
2. Nal'iBali National Literacy Program
   Uses the power of stories to spark children's potential by encouraging supplementary reading, organizing reading clubs and training reading "activists"
   
   
3. Funda Wande - Teaching for Meaning Programme
   Funda Wande is a not-for-profit organisation which has partnered with the Department of Basic Education, in order to ensure that all learners in South Africa can read for meaning in their home language by the age of 10 and that all Grade R-3 teachers are well-equipped to teach children how to read by 2023.
   The programme develops video and print materials to train teachers how to teach reading for meaning in Grades R–3. All the materials are freely available and are Creative Commons licensed, so anyone can use them.
   Currently 400 Heads of Departments are being trained including teachers and principals from the 5 Primary schools where the VW Literacy Programme is implemented
   
   
4. Annual Legacy Literacy Conference.
   The Annual Legacy Literacy conference is hosted in Uitenhage with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of functional literacy at the foundation phase, and to accelerate buy-in and participation by other stakeholders, The conference attracts a wide variety of participants with an interest in improving education in South Africa. Due the COVID-19 pandemic, we were not able not host the conference in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

One of the primary goals of the Nelson Mandela Bay Science and Technology Centre is to ensure that hitherto marginalized schools have access and exposure to science and technology-related learning experiences. The mission of the NMB Science and Technology Centre is to provide young people with educational exposure, experience and learning opportunities. The NMB Science & Technology Centre is giving schools in PE, Uitenhage and Dispatch access to major math, science and technology events which they might not otherwise have had.

The Nal'iBali National Reading Campaign's motto is "Using the power of stories to spark children's potential". Nal'ibali is a Xhosa word meaning "here is the story". The organization trains volunteers to organize reading clubs in schools, in communities and especially among young people. The aim is to nurture, inspire and provide resources for reading clubs - 500 of which have already been established - using media such as the Sunday Times, Eastern Cape Herald and Daily Dispatch to stimulate support and demand. Over 500 billboards have been erected nationally. This is the key to tackling the literacy crisis in South Africa.

Scania partners with the Swedish Workplace Programme. The programme is based on the proven partnership model where management and employees jointly solve problems and improve the daily operations of business, growth including occupational health and safety (OHS), skills development, gender equality and diversity in the workplace. The cooperation with SWP dates back to 2004 when Scania and 10 Swedish companies in Sub Sharan Africa started to mitigate the effects of the HIV epidemic that hampered the productivity and negatively affected the lives of thousands of employees, then as the Swedish Workplace HIV and AIDS Programme (SWHAP).
 
As a result of the cooperation Scania today has workplace programmes in 29 workplaces reaching 1120 employees (in 2018). Since 2004 Scania have trained over 9241 staff and people in their local communities.

SWP and SWHAP is a partnership between the International Council of Swedish Industry and the Swedish Industry and Metal Workers Union (IF Metall).

Working for a new South Africa: the Volkswagen Community Trust has long concerned itself with the world beyond the factory gates, in line with Volkswagen's prioritization of responsibility. Founded in 1989, the Volkswagen Community Trust is the main vehicle for Volkswagen's social investment in South Africa. The Volkswagen Community Trust prides itself on being relevant and responsive to community issues. The Volkswagen Community Trust has a very broad focus and invests mainly in education, youth development, and community health and wellbeing.

In 2019 The VWCT celebrated its 30th Anniversary and renewed its commitment to community development in South Africa.

This sponsorship program has been in place since 2011 and is committed until 2019. The program's mission is to conserve and protect the unique biodiversity in Overstrand, and in parallel to deliver grassroots-level education to schoolchildren about the dangers of littering and pollution.

The program strives to protect the largest surviving colonies of the endangered African Penguin, the globally significant breeding grounds of the Southern Right Whale, and the world's densest population of the vulnerable Great White Shark.

Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA) aims to make a sustainable difference by shaping the South Africa we all want to live in. This commitment aims to improve the lives of South Africans and respond to communities' needs through our CSR brand: Volkswagen for Good.

The Children of Volkswagen Bursary Fund is a full academic bursary for the children of VW shopfloor workers who show academic potential. The fund selects talented learners studying mathematics and physics and places them in well-resourced schools where they are mentored and nurtured so they can excel at their studies. The bursary provides all the financial, academic and personal support they need to succeed in school, starting at Grades 10-12.

77 students have been funded since the program's inception, representing a total investment of over R18 million.
50 have passed matric and the VWCT is funding 13 of them at tertiary:

• 5 in the Engineering stream and
  
• 5 in the Commerce stream
  
• 3 in logistics

To improve learning performance and increase the number of learners achieving excellent grades in mathematics and the sciences at matric level, the programme was extended to start at Grade 8 in 2018, providing learners with 5 years of funding and academic support.

The Saturday Supplementary classes for Maths, Science & English were also extended to include Grade 6-7 from 2018. A total of 996 learners have attended these lessons since inception.

Volkswagen has partnered with the Forever Wild Rhino Protection Initiative since 2011, and over the last 6 years the Amaroks donated by the company have assisted in the arrest of suspected poachers, the confiscation of firearms, and the recovery of rhino horn, as well as enabling extended patrols in game parks around the country, supporting rhino tracking exercises, and assisting with the relocation of rhinos for safety reasons. The vehicles have also provided support for aerial teams across the country.

Furthermore, the RhODIS® (Rhino DNA Index System) program managed by the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the University of Pretoria has initiated a project to help alleviate the plight of rhinos. The Veterinary Genetics Laboratory is collecting DNA samples of rhinos across the country to build a database of individual rhinos' unique DNA profiles. Ultimately, all rhinos should be recorded on the system. This will deter poachers and assist in forensic prosecutions.

The Masifunde Learner Development Program is a German-South African organization based in Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth. It is currently training more than 200 motivated and talented learners to become change-makers and active role models in their communities. The program provides opportunities for talented young people to attend excellent schools. VWSA provided Masifunde with a Crafter van to transport these young people to and from school, and to enable them to attend various after-school activities.