The Sasol Energy Business, along with the Sasol Friendly Neighbour programme, which aims to ensure that children in our fenceline communities are adequately protected, educated, and well-nourished, made a significant difference in the lives of children in the Germiston and Tshwane areas during the month of June. We achieved this by partnering with our franchisees and various non-profit organisations (NPOs).
On 10 June, Sasol Lotus Gardens donated a 570-litre chest freezer to assist the Mohau centre to preserve donated groceries, cleaning products to maintain a healthy environment and 10 Foam mattresses for new children being sent to the centre through a court order or Department of Social Development domestic interventions. A donation of R3000 cash towards fuel, through the franchisee’s personal network, was also made to assist the centre transport the children to school more regularly.
On 15 June, Sasol Lambton donated beanies, scarves, pyjamas, and other clothing to the 53 children residing at the Epworth Children’s Village in Lambton, Germiston. The winter warm packs, which comprise warm clothes and snacks were donated to ensure that the bitterness of the winter season is minimised. The handover event was attended by Sasol and other key stakeholders at the Sasol Lambton retail site.
Through the Sasol Friendly Neighbour programme, our retailers and partner NPOs develop programmes that address the emotional, psychological, and educational needs of the children that they look after, many of whom come from child-headed households as a result of crime, the COVID-19 pandemic, Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) as well as the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The NPOs, through the support of various donors, strive to maintain a therapeutic environment that offers a real chance of breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect to achieve family reunification and reintegration into the community.
According to Abey Tau Social Investment Manager for the Energy Business, “The Friendly Neighbour Concept is one of our social impact initiatives through which Sasol matches our franchisee proposal rand-for-rand in order to heighten our retail sites’ corporate citizenship status. The concept is about co-creating socio-economic activities within a specified radius of our retail sites, focusing on community development programmes in line with Sasol’s Social Investment pillars”.
Click here to read more Sasol Friendly Neighbour initiatives.
