Corporate Social Investment
At J&G we have always been acutely aware of our responsibility to invest in and support the communities within which we operate. To this end we have always made donations to a wide variety of charities and supported causes ranging from feeding schemes to anti-crime campaigns. Today our Corporate Social Investment Programme focuses primarily on education and community support.
- I Care
- PROTEC
- Bursaries
- Community 2010
- LED
At the end of 2008, with the global economy in meltdown and dreadful poverty all around, the inappropriateness of corporate give-aways was clear. Instead, J&G's entire corporate gift budget was given to I Care, a non-profit organisation devoted to finding meaningful and sustainable solutions to the challenge of South Africa’s street children. The money was used throughout 2009 to educate nine rehabilitated street kids. It went towards paying their teacher’s salary and buying the textbooks and stationery needed for the year.
In 2010 J&G donated funds towards the Hope Centre in Durban, which is part of I Care’s outreach programme as it provides a drop-in centre for children living on the streets where they can get food, counselling and participate in craft activities.
The I Care programme follows seven steps: awareness, outreach, rehabilitation, housing, education, skills and job creation – and finally, effective members of society.
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My name is Qaphela Mkhwanazi and I am 15 years old.
My home is in Umzinyathi, Dundee. I have a family of five – father, mother, a brother and a sister. My family is very poor.
I left home when I was nine years old because I did not have a good relationship with my family. My brother and sister have also lived on the streets. Life on the streets was not good and I learned bad things that I knew were not good for me.
I joined I Care in July 2007 because I was willing to change my life and achieve my goals. Now I visit my family in the holidays and they are proud to see me.
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My name is Thandazani Hlatshwayo. I am seven years old. My date of birth is 10 September 2001.
My favourite sport is swimming.
I come from Quare Hite, near to Newlands East. I stayed at home with my father and stepmother as my mother had passed away. I have one brother who is named S’fiso.
I came to I Care on 12 December 2007. They took me because of poverty and family disturbances.
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My name is Andile and I am 15 years old. I was born in Umlazi, near Durban, on 18 January 1994.
I left home at an early age and lived on the streets for more than five years. My life was in a very bad condition when I Care found me and welcomed me.
Surfing is my favourite sport but I also like skate-boarding and swimming.
I would love to be adopted by a family.
Thank you for your support! May God bless you!
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My name is Sphelele Msimango and I am 12 years old. My birthday is 19 June 1997.
I have been at I Care since 2007.
English is my favourite subject and soccer is my favourite sport.
I want to be a Policeman when I grow up.
I love dogs.
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My name is Philani and I am 14 years old. My birthday is on 19 September 1995.
I lived on the streets with my mother since I was small. She sells bin bags and liked me to help her.
I Care took me from the streets where I used to smoke and do bad things.
I would love to help my family.
Thank you for everything!
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My name is Siphiwe Nethi. I am 15 years old and was born in Umlazi, a Durban township, on 1 December 1994.
I lived with my father and stepmother but was not happy so I left home and lived on the streets. In 2004 I went to live with my grandfather but my brother also lived there and things did not work out, so I left.
I went to stay with my mother, who stayed with her relatives, but the community said I stole something and beat me badly. I lived on the streets until I Care took me into their family in July 2007.
I have been back home once to visit my Dad, and would like to do that every month until I can go back to live with him. My Dad does have a job but he lives in a small shack so I would like to help him.
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My name is Zhobane Nkosi. My birthday is 20 January 1998 and my birth place is Inchanga, a township west of Durban.
Surfing, bicycle riding, soccer and basketball are my favourite sports.
Becoming a policeman is my wish. I hope I can complete my studies and join the Police Force.
I joined I Care in 2007 from home because my family is very poor and had difficulty sending me to school and paying for provisions.
I thank everyone who cares for me and I wish to prosper to help others.
Thank you I Care! Thank you donors!
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My name is Sboniso and although I am not sure of my birth date I think I am 14 years old.
Both my parents passed away so I lived with my Uncle in Umlazi, near Durban until 2005 when he also passed away. I then lived by myself and kind neighbours helped me to survive.
I came to I Care in December 2008
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My name is Sbonelo and I am 14 years old. I was born on 20 September 1994.
I am from Malukazi, at Umlazi, near Durban. I have two brothers and two sisters.
My favourite sport is surfing.
When I grow up I want to be a policeman.
I joined I Care in December 2007.
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My name is Sandile Ngcobo and I am 14 years old. I was born on 12 October 1994 in Tongaat, Fairbreeze, on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.
I lived on the streets for three years. I didn’t like to be on the streets but I was there because of family problems and I didn’t know where else to go. I used to smoke glue and drink beer. I was not safe on the streets and I used a very bad way to get money, like stealing. I knew it was bad but it was the only way that I found to survive.
I was very lucky because I met Lucia, and she really cared about me and wanted me to change my life. She works for I Care and said she would like me to try living at I Care so that I could carry on in life. I started to stay in I Care in March 2008.
When I grow up I would like to become a singer and help all those street kids who are still smoking glue on the streets. I’m a very talented singer and I believe that it is the only thing that can help me and my family, who are very poor.
I really like God and I’m very thankful to be here in I Care. I will try hard to become a singing star and I believe that with I Care and God’s help I will be what I want to be!
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My name Smanga Masinga. I am 14 years old and was born in Umlazi, a Durban township, on 9 February 1996.
At school I like studying English and Afrikaans. I like to play with others when I sometimes need rest from concentrating on my studies. I enjoy bike riding, surfing, swimming, soccer and the youth church.
I hope I will succeed in my studies and my life’s plans. I want to become a care-giver. Then I can help other children and other poor and needy people. I will help them in the fields of education, housing and provisions of food and clothes.
Myself, I am still struggling in life areas such as discipline and managing my daily life. But I believe that I Care has made me a better boy than I was. I remember the time I joined this family I could not even speak English or count money for buying sweets.
I am proud of being in I Care. I have had much support in the two years I have lived here and I hope that I can grow to be an even better person.
I thank all who have supported me and become my family.
PROTEC (Programme for Technological Careers): J&G is a major sponsor of this four-year supplementary programme (grades 9-12) for learners showing above average skills in maths and science. Pupils participate in 30 days of Saturday school each year, plus vacation school activities, work experience, site visits, and life skills training. The objective is to help these learners obtain the best Grade 12 results possible, assist them to discern their career paths, and equip them for tertiary education. J&G has taken pupils on site visits to project construction sites so as to give them an insight into civil engineering as a profession.
PROTEC Pmb matriculants have achieved a 100% pass-rate, with an above 95% university endorsement rate, for the past five years.
Protec Grade 11 students at a site visit to the Mgeni Viaduct, arranged by J&G.
Students:
J&G aims at making 80% of its external bursary funding available to students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. These students are also given opportunities to work during their holiday periods.
Staff:
Since as far back as the 1960s, J&G has given education bursaries to the children of our disadvantaged staff members, even to those not studying engineering.
J&G values its staff and encourages all employees to better themselves academically. We assist employees with part-time bursaries.
J&G has spent R2,7 million on bursaries in the last 5 years.
Alexandra Health Centre serves an impoverished community of around 400 000 people, crammed into an area of just one square mile, in the township of Alexandra, Johannesburg. The services provided include antenatal and postnatal care, growth monitoring and immunization, family planning and outreach services in occupational and school health.
J&G provided both the funding and professional services to erect two guard houses, one each at the Westgate and Arkwright entrances.
Kensington Creche, Shawco Centre, is a non-profit organisation in Kensington, Cape Town, which provides early childhood education for 100 children aged between two and a half and six years. Parents pay a nominal fee for the education and meals received by their children.
J&G provided the funding for the expansion and refitting of a classroom for the youngest children and the upgrading of the staff room.
- Noluthandu School of the Deaf, Khayelitsha, Western Cape (design of sports field and irrigation facility)
- Masibambane Pig Farming Project – Nkonkobe Municipality, Alice, Eastern Cape (business plan)
- Clouds of Hope Orphanage, Underberg, KwaZulu-Natal (Geotechnical investigations for building extensions)
- Keep Komani River Clean, Queenstown, Eastern Cape (project steering committee member)
- Masakhane Vegetable Project, Nkonkobe Municipality, Alice, Eastern Cape (business plan)
- Zabalaza Youth Club: indigenous medicinal plant nursery, Enkanyezini, uMkhanyakude District, KwaZulu-Natal (business plan)
- Masivuyisane Educare Crèche, Khayelitsha, Western Cape (structures design)
- Black Women in the Mining Industry (SAWIM), Dept of Minerals & Energy (Assistance with obtaining mining rights by doing environmental reports and applications)
- Sinethemba Cooperative – Amathole District Municipality, Mdantsane, East London (business plan and funding facilitation)