In order to meet its obligation, Sasol partnered and provided upskilling support to one of our incubatees, KSM Chemical Solutions, a small business that was developed at the Sasol Business Incubator from 2015 to 2016, so that it would be able to deliver thousands of litres of hand sanitiser to healthcare facilities and areas in need across South Africa. This small business had to adjust their operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which almost forced KSM Chemical Solutions, to close their doors in March 2020 when the national lockdown began. Sasol supplies KSM with a high purity ethanol blend, which the smaller chemical maker turns into high-grade hand sanitiser. This partnership successfully produced and distributed over 1 million litres of hand sanitiser between April and October 2020, the majority of which went to our fence line communities. The production of this hand sanitiser was suspended in November given the decrease in the number of new cases of COVID-19 at the time.

This alliance also enabled Sasol to further increase the geographic reach by introducing a drumming process with a capacity of 500 drums a day, with one facility in Durban and another facility in Gauteng to cater for small customers, while keeping prices stable at a time when global demand and pricing for ethanol (alcohol) has increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the partnership, partners were able to offset costs, preserve jobs while caring for their communities ensuring that the spread of COVID-19 is mitigated in our communities. This is testament that when we foster inclusivity with our employees, customers, and stakeholders, the gains are endless.

When South Africa entered its second wave of COVID-19, the formidable project team went for an inclusive collaboration with internal stakeholders (Corporate Affairs, Supply Chain, Marketing and Sales, Legal, Base Chemicals), and external stakeholders: KSM Chemical Solutions as well as transport logistics partners: Stellar, Reef tankers, Supergroup and Imperial Logistics. Sasol is producing 200 000 litres of the sanitiser, while the logistics partners deliver over 19000 litres of sanitiser per week in Kinross, Secunda and Zamdela, Sasolburg, all at their own cost between February and April 2021. The hand sanitiser will be further donated to Taxi Associations, government departments, community partners, Traditional Leaders, schools, Early Childhood Development centres as well as correctional facilities in Secunda and Sasolburg.

“At Sasol, we are committed to the wellbeing of our communities. Throughout the campaign, we have always had an integrated response to COVID-19 by reprioritising our activities to ensure the stability and safety of our fence line communities. We have also been deliberate in supporting the cause using resources and partnerships that we already have, focusing on how our value chain can be redirected to support our communities and government to minimise impact on our cash flow while meeting the safety and health needs of our communities. For us, these kinds of partnerships are critical to saving lives and mitigating health, societal, and economic impacts” commented Dr Sarel Booyens, Head of Sasol for Good and Community Health and Environmental Programmes.

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This PCR Laboratory will assist Sasol employees, contractors and will also be open to the public for diagnosis of COVID-19, under the conditions set out by the Clinic’s operator.

The country is currently facing COVID-19 testing challenges with the most urgent and pressing problem being that there are only a few in-country testing facilities, which are overwhelmed and cannot cope with the demand.

To respond to this challenge, we engaged All-Around Medical Solutions, an experienced medical services provider, to set up a COVID-19 testing laboratory for its operations, and the benefit of the surrounding community.

The facility has the capacity to process approximately 300 COVID-19 tests a day and will provide the results in 24 hours.

Bassem Tadros, VP for Sasol Mozambique Asset Management says: “Since the beginning of the pandemic, Sasol has prepared itself to be one step ahead of events in order to avoid chaos and not to interrupt the operations, creating a healthy environment for its workers and the community supporting response plans of the government, Group and Industry.

“As a way of tackling the current scene, several measures have been taken for Maputo, Nhamacunda and CPF. Our approach is focused on creating and upgrade the local capacity in the different areas: prevention, exposure limitation, local treatment capacity and evacuation.

“The health and wellbeing of employees, family and the community around is Sasol high priority and this is why we are, collaborating with the Government in response to control the Pandemic of COVID-19.”

See other articles about how Team Sasol contributes to our Mozambique fence-line community, click here.

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