The CETC, which has long been a vital resource for adult education, was previously operating from a temporary location. When the premises became unavailable, Sasol collaborated with the Metsimaholo Local Municipality to secure a permanent home for the centre. This resulted in the allocation of land within the Sasolburg and Natref Operations fenceline, where a modern facility was constructed. The new centre, built using Light Frame Steel Construction for swift completion, now boasts a U-shaped building featuring six classrooms, a computer lab, a boardroom, administrative offices with a strong room, a Principal’s Office, and designated toilets for both ladies and gents. Covering over 330 m², the facility also has its own water and electricity connections, ensuring uninterrupted service. This new centre marks a significant step forward in supporting education and empowering the Sasolburg community with lifelong learning opportunities.

Alongside this, Sasol has also addressed pressing challenges faced by the Sasolburg Fire Station, which serves the entire Metsimaholo Local Municipality, including the Oranjeville area. A recent review revealed that the fire station had been struggling with issues such as power outages, outdated infrastructure, and insufficient firefighting equipment, which hindered its ability to protect the community effectively.

To tackle these challenges, Sasol initiated a series of critical upgrades. The installation of solar panels will ensure uninterrupted 24/7 operations, allowing the station to respond to emergencies without delays caused by power outages. In addition, the control room’s communication equipment was upgraded to full functionality, now fully integrated with solar power for enhanced reliability. Dispatch operations have also been improved by servicing the station’s roller doors to ensure they function seamlessly during emergencies. The electrical systems were updated to address safety concerns, and defective light fittings were replaced to ensure the station is fully compliant with safety standards. To further protect the frontline fire personnel, Sasol has supplied new firefighting personal protective equipment (PPE). Security measures at the facility have been enhanced to safeguard the emergency equipment, and the administrative offices have been renovated to create a more welcoming environment for both staff and visitors.

These upgrades are designed to significantly improve the fire station’s ability to respond to emergencies, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the Metsimaholo community. By focusing on both education and emergency response, Sasol continues to strengthen its commitment to empowering and protecting its fenceline community, ensuring the Sasolburg and surrounding areas have the tools and resources they need to thrive.

Our leadership provided these insights…

“Both the Community Learning Centre and the Sasolburg Fire Station reflect our dedication to building a resilient, empowered, and safe community. These projects are not just corporate investments; they are a testament to our partnership with the people of Sasolburg. We see ourselves as more than just a business here—we are part of the fabric of this community, and we are proud to contribute to its future.” – Rightwell Laxa, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs.

“The handover of the Community Learning Centre and the upgrades to the Sasolburg Fire Station are part of Sasol’s broader vision for creating long-term, sustainable social impact. These projects speak to two pillars we hold dear: empowering our communities through education and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the people who live here.

These achievements are the result of a collaborative effort. From the very beginning, Sasol has worked closely with the Metsimaholo Local Municipality, community leaders, and other key stakeholders to identify the pressing needs of this community. Together, we identified education and public safety as two critical areas where our support could make a real difference.” – Dr Thuli Mbuli, Head of Corporate Affairs.

“I have seen firsthand the positive impact that Sasol’s initiatives have on this community. We are not just here as an industrial leader; we are here as a partner in community development. Our operations are deeply embedded in Sasolburg, and we are committed to making meaningful contributions to the well-being and progress of the people who live here.

Both the Community Learning Centre and the Sasolburg Fire Station upgrades represent Sasol’s ongoing commitment to building a thriving, safe, and empowered community. These projects go beyond our operational footprint and reflect our deep belief in the importance of supporting the communities that support us.” – Ntokozo Gcabashe, Senior Vice President Sasolburg, Natref & Ekandustria Operations.

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As our population continues to grow and demands for water escalate, ensuring a reliable and sustainable water supply becomes increasingly crucial. Sasol’s mitigation strategy for sustainable water provision was through the drilling of these three boreholes.

According to Thuli Mbuli, Sasol Head Community Affairs, the company realises that the assurance of water supply for the future is not a problem unique to South Africa, but certainly a serious concern to many people living in the communities around Sasol’s operations in Metsimaholo. Water is required to sustain living, but it also plays an important role in keeping people safe as it is used for personal and food hygiene.

“These boreholes are critical for the socio-economic success of our fenceline communities. As our commitment to our communities and the environment, we are handing over the three water boreholes to empower the communities with self-sufficiency and independence.,” said Mbuli.

“It is important to Sasol to be a catalyst for social change. Clean water is essential for fighting poverty because it improves health and supports sustainable development. One of the ways we can achieve this is to create a positive and measurable socio-economic impact, responding to key societal challenges in the communities where Sasol operates,” said Mbuli. 

The water security project is aligned with Sasol’s social investment approach that is underpinned by focus areas that include health and service infrastructure, environment, quality education and skills development, as well as Sasol For Good that incorporates skilled volunteering and employee giving, NGO capacity building, community support, philanthropy and community development.

Click here for more Sasol in Society articles.

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“As Sasol, our commitment to drive sustainable improvement in our fenceline communities is motivated by our core values and shared interest for the safety our people.  As we officially handover this road and satellite fire station infrastructures, we do so with a firm belief that this will ensure the safety of families on the road, and a quicker response time to veld and waste fires as well as at home,” said Rightwell Laxa, Senior Vice President at Sasol’s Sasolburg and Ekandustria Operations.

The 1.6km main road in Amelia was paved to reduce dust and improve road safety during high traffic volumes, particularly on a road that connects multiple townships.  The work included the provision of a pedestrian walkway, bus shelters, speed humps, road markings and signage.

Additionally, the satellite fire station project at the Harry Gwala Multi-Purpose Sports Centre in Zamdela was upgraded to accommodate a 6000-litre fire truck that is now stationed closer to the community – making the response time quicker.  Renovation work inside the station entailed the upgrading of office space, ablution facilities and the reception area, while a structure was erected outside the station to house the fire truck.

“For us as Sasol, safety remains a key priority; and in this instance, these two infrastructures will solidify the municipality’s response to safety measures and ensure that the local wards are better equipped to respond to and mitigate emergencies for the safety of all our fenceline communities,” concluded Laxa.

The stakeholders included Rightwell Laxa, Sasol Senior Vice President; Ntokozo Gcabashe, Natref Senior Vice President;  Mamohau Julia Maleka, Sasol Vice President SHE; Dr Thuli Mbuli (MBA) PhD, Head of Community Affairs at Sasol; Executive Mayor of Metsimaholo Local Municipality, Cllr Jack Malindi; Executive Mayor of Fezile Dabi, Cllr Dennis Khasudi and Ward 19 Councilor Lunga Mthetho.

Click here to read more #TreamSasol South Africa Sasol in Society initiatives.

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As an active supporter of technology and innovation, the Sasol Foundation is placing itself at the forefront of tackling the development of digital skills in schools.

The Foundation is currently driving a programme that supports the school Coding and Robotics Curriculum which has been introduced by the Department of Education.

The donation of a Robotics Laboratory to the University of Zululand Science Centre speaks to Sasol’s commitment to growing the new digital curriculum and ultimately creating a pipeline of innovators.

The Robotics Lab will provide teacher training and practical learner support in coding and robotics, and serve schools around the University of Zululand. This groundbreaking intervention brings coding and robotics facilities to learners who will otherwise have taken longer to get on the digital wave.

Sasol has been a prolific supporter of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education at schools and more labs will be established in various parts of the country.

“Our education support in schools is geared towards building the knowledge and skills that will enable learners to excel in STEM subjects,” says Sasol Foundation Head, Noxolo Kahlana.

The handover event at the UNIZULU Science attracted groups of enthusiastic school children and teachers who are set to utilise the facility.

The Department of Basic Education has developed a coding and robotics curriculum for Grades R to Grade 9, which is being piloted in more than 1000 schools across the country.

Sasol has provided training to 200 teachers and subject advisors from 9 provinces trained on the 4th Industrial Revolution, and 200 primary schools in Grades R, 3 and 7 are supported with coding and robotics.

Sasol partnered with Sifiso EdTech to deliver the robotics lab, a company founded by Sizwe Nxasana and Dr Judy Dlamini that provides turn-key educational robotics solutions to schools.

Click here to read more #TeamSasol initiatives to improve education in South Africa.

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Access to basic resources that enable the teaching and learning of science and technology subjects is one of the critical challenges faced by rural schools. 

To address this obstacle, the Sasol Foundation has been donating much-needed science resources to under-resourced schools around the country.

The Sasol Foundation recently handed over a Science Mobile Lab vehicle to KZN Department of Education uMkhanyakude District, north of KwaZulu-Natal.

The Science Mobile Lab investment goes a long way in ensuring that no child is left behind in the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) at school level.  The uptake of these subjects in schools also prepares the learners to study for careers that address the country’s skills shortage challenge.

The lab, which is equipped with appliances for science experiments, will traverse schools in the district without adequate conventional labs.

The largely rural uMkhanyakude district consists of towns such as Jozini, Hluhluwe, Hlabisa, Mtubatuba, Ingwavuma and Mkhuze.

Despite its rural geographic location, the district held the night position among the top ten best-performing districts in the 2022 Grade 12 results. The district scored an 86.3% pass rate.

Since 2014, seven new mobile labs have been established. These exclude the three labs run by the Sasol-funded Osizweni Science Centre in the Gert Sibande District Municipality in Mpumalanga.

“The initiative is in response to the lack of functionally equipped laboratories in about 95% of public schools in the country. A mobile laboratory offers a viable and cost-effective alternative as it can serve up to 30 schools per year when fully utilised,” according to the Sasol Foundation.

Sasol enters into partnerships with organisations in the science and technology field and government departments in the rollout of the programme.  In the uMkhanyakude project, the Foundation partnered with the Department of Minerals and Energy.

In May, the Foundation will donate a Science Mobile Lab vehicle to the University of Mpumalanga which will be used by schools neighbouring the institution.

Click here to read more #TeamSasol initiatives to improve education in South Africa.

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For many years, Sasol has supported a comprehensive approach to Early Childhood Development (ECD). The approach consists of learner support interventions, entailing the provision of nutrition; an inclusive child-centered learning programme and parental support; practitioner training, including accredited skills-based activities, infrastructure and environment improvement; the provision of learning resources; as well as management and leadership support.

On Friday, 17 February 2023, the Sasol Energy Business, and its partner For Africa handed over the newly-renovated Bonolo Day Care Centre in Sethong Village, Tzaneen. The work completed at the Bonolo Centre included infrastructure renovations, the provision of educational and play equipment such as children’s furniture; mattresses; potties; and teacher training.

In addition to the Bonolo Centre, due to increasing instances of undernourishment as a result of children living in households which reported hunger, the programme was extended to provide daily nutritious meals and the installation of food gardens for a total of 12 ECD centres looking after 400 children in the Greater Tzaneen municipality.

Sasol’s aim with the ECD programme is to improve access to quality early learning opportunities for children from birth to six years of age in the communities closest to their operations and retail sites. This will contribute to protecting the rights of children in these communities to develop their full cognitive, emotional, social and physical potential and therefore to contribute to a strong foundation for school readiness and the holistic development of children.

Bonolo Day Care Centre support, as requested by the Sasol Tzaneen franchisee, is part of the Energy Business’ Friendly Neighbour Programme. The Friendly Neighbour Programme is a social impact initiative designed to uplift fenceline communities around Sasol’s retail sites in collaboration with franchise owners. Sasol reviews proposals received from franchisees to uplift their communities and either the franchisee proposal or co-creates an activity.

Sasol is proud to continue assisting communities via its Social Impact activities.

Click here to read more Sasol Friendly Neighbour initiatives.

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The role of Social Investment (SI) function within the Energy Business has over the years proved to be a strategic and important business sustainability imperative. One of the SI programmes driving this imperative is the Friendly Neighbour Concept (FNC) programme which supports the Retail & Mobility business to partner with Franchisees to drive socio-economic and community building activities within the franchisees’ immediate communities, i.e. fence-line communities.

Sasol Circle Centre

One such partnership was with one of our Retailer, Safwaan Moosa, who owns Sasol Circle Centre (SCC) in Laudium, West of Pretoria. Safwaan has been working very closely with the SI team supporting the building of community cohesion in Laudium. When informed of the gym equipment that was made available following the relocation of the Sasol Randburg office to Sasol Place, Safwaan immediately recommended Itireleng community as a beneficiary; Itireleng is located within Laudium which is 9km from SCC.

Itireleng Community Gym

Sasol heeded the call and the refurbished the gym equipment was donated to Itireleng Community Gym. since the donation, over 150 people continue to use the equipment to improve their health and fitness levels during the outbreak of COVID-19.

The franchisee gets a lot of business support from the community and  Safwaan took the opportunity to recommend this support for the local community as another mechanism by which Sasol could support his community members and bring the brand values to touch local lives This is but one example of how the SI Function supports the community through the Retail business and Franchisees’ under the Friendly Neighbour programme.

For other Sasol in Society initiatives read more here.

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Sasol, through its social investment, has invested in projects within the Govan Mbeki Municipality (GMM) for more than 30 years. The projects are informed by the company’s focus areas such as promoting the protection of the environment and community safety, promoting health and welfare, education and skills development.

RENOVATED COMMUNITY PARKS

Amongst these projects are the renovation of community parks in Kinross and Secunda as well as providing government departments and communities with safety equipment and resources during this period of COVID-19 pandemic. As the condition of these parks had deteriorated over the years, we took a decision to renovate them in collaboration with Govan Mbeki Municipality. The official hand over of the renovated community parks and safety equipment took place on 9 July 2020, at the Sasol Community Centre in Kinross.

Two black-owned local contractors, Mkhalamuni Construction and Waka Holdings were appointed, to implement the initial phase of renovations, with Ricky B as a subcontractor. These local small, medium and micro enterprises also sourced local labour to allow skills transfer. Technical support from Sasol engineers was available to the contractors. The scope of work for the first phase of the project included the following:

• Existing ablution facilities and store rooms refurbished
• Playground equipment repaired
• Existing stormwater inlets and spillway structures repaired
• Installation of an outdoor chess set
• Braai stands
• A mini soccer pitch and a tall light mast to increase visibility at night for security purposes
• Vegetation cleared
• The entrance of the park upgraded to help control public and vehicle access.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT

As part of our COVID-19 pandemic community response, safety equipment to be utilised by the municipality for sanitising all their facilities was handed over as well, this included the following:

• 8 litre pressure sprayers x5
• Tyvek suits x200
• Presept disinfectant bottles x32
• Drager half filter masks with canisters x14
• Uvex Safety Glasses x55
• Disposable plastic aprons x200
• Hazmat gloves x12 sets
• Sanifog disinfectant spray bottles x24
• FFP1 Face masks x100

“As a responsible and caring corporate citizen, we fully recognise our duty and deeper responsibility to continue supporting our fenceline communities, and society at large, in these challenging and uncertain times,” said Mashudu Ndou, Vice President Secunda Corporate Affairs. “Working hand-in-hand with a broad range of social partners – in particular government, civil society and our fenceline communities – we are driving our response efforts to equip and support our communities, our schools and those in the front line of fighting the pandemic. We have also partnered with GMM to ensure upgrading of our recreational facility in preparation for a time when we will see families having picnics and children playing in the parks again.”

Click here to find more about Sasol’s support in the fight against COVID-19.

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These ECD centres, mostly located in Zamdela, a township on the outskirts of Sasolburg, are the earliest experiences of schooling that will shape the rest of the children’s lives. The facilities are largely ill-equipped with poor sanitation where pit toilets prevail. Pit toilets are rudimentary toilets built over holes in the ground, sometimes called “long drops”. These toilets are unsanitary, undignified and are a threat to the lives of very young children. Sasol has taken steps to have all ECD pit toilets removed within the Metsimaholo Municipality: Sasolburg, Deneysville and Oranjeville.

By the end of 2018, 15 ECD centres had had their pit toilets converted to either flushing toilets or (where the absence of nearby piped-water infrastructure makes such toilets impractical), decent, dry sanitation units. Where flush toilets are possible, containers are installed and connected to either French drains or the municipal sewerage system. Typically, bathrooms consist of five mini toilets for youngsters, hand-washing basins and an adult toilet and basin, all within neat, aesthetically appealing containers. By the end of 2019, 30 Metsimaholo ECD centres will have had their pit toilets dismantled and replaced.

We have 145 children aged between nought and six years old. When they needed to go to the toilet, the children would use ten buckets. There was one pit toilet for the eleven staff. Now Sasol has provided us with these beautiful, clean facilities. It has changed our school and it has changed the lives of all of us.

ALINA MOTATE – ECD Teacher

Over and above providing proper toilets, local ECD centres receive teacher training (as many as 80% of educators lack proper qualifications), financial-training support, infrastructure upgrades including vegetable gardens and decent, safe kitchens, and – with partners Rotary – educational toys and materials.

ECD learners – whose early-education experiences Sasol is working hard to improve – feed into the local primary and then high-school environments, all of which Sasol continuously supports with grants, training, bursaries and technical support. This long-term commitment is changing thousands of young Sasolburg lives every year.

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