Corporate social responsibility report
INTRODUCTION
Our retail brands, Italtile Retail, CTM and TopT, and manufacturing businesses, Ceramic, Ezee Tile and PiviCal Panels, support the Group's commitment to work toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs") in order to realise a better and more sustainable future for all. As such, the Company has designed an inclusive community development strategy. Our socio-economic development projects are a combination of structured strategic and ad hoc projects that arise from community needs in the areas in which we conduct our business. The common thread is to achieve shared value for the Group and the communities in which we operate. Most of our projects fall within the spheres of education, sports and environment.
Ceramic Industries
Hammanskraal and Vaal TRAC mathematics and science points
TRAC South Africa is a national, non-profit mathematics and physical science intervention programme that aims to support and uplift mathematics and physical science education in South African secondary schools. Through TRAC SA, Ceramic continued to support five schools in Hammanskraal, Gauteng, with physical science education. 2021 marked three years of this partnership. During the year under review, mathematics was added to the programme to address the acute need for coaching in the subject, particularly in underprivileged schools. In the past, the TRAC Programme had a significant, positive effect on students' results. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the pass rate for physical science at the Hammanskraal TRAC schools was 90%. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent effect on reduced teaching time due to extended school closures had an adverse impact on the 2020 results. In 2021, despite the Hammanskraal schools still dealing with the pandemic's impact on teaching time, results managed to move closer to pre-Covid performance, with a pass rate of 89%. This compares favourably to the national pass rate of 69%.
In the year under review, Ceramic expanded its support programme to the Vaal area in Gauteng, and a launch roadshow, also attended by Ceramic staff, was organised to celebrate this development. The five schools involved were excited to participate in the programme, with the school leadership expressing how they had already experienced improvement since the onboarding of mathematics and science facilitators.
In April, all grade 12 learners were equipped with study guides and calculators.
ECD
Tiling Project
Ceramic donates tiles to crèches close to our tile factories on an ongoing basis. Since inception of this project, tiles have been donated to more than 800 crèches and primary schools in the Vaal. Recently, Ceramic partnered with the Sedibeng Department of Social Development to assist with infrastructure development for crèches that are developing and preparing children for grade 1. Bona Lesedi Day Care Centre in Sharpeville, Gauteng has been identified as one such ECD centre that will receive assistance with improving their kitchen, toilets, and food garden.
To date Ceramic's ECD initiatives have benefited more than 5 000 direct beneficiaries.
Setlabotjha Primary School uniform donation
School uniforms have the power to level the socio-economic status of students and help to create an environment where the learners have a sense of belonging at school. Setlabotjha Primary School is situated in Gauteng in an area with a high unemployment rate, and as a result, many parents can't afford to purchase new uniforms for their children. Ceramic has pledged to provide all learners in this school with new uniforms on an annual basis.
In November 2021, the company handed over more than 900 sets of school uniforms to learners of this school and more than 270 sets to learners at Boiketlong Primary, a school within an informal settlement adjacent to our factories in the Vaal area.
Career guidance
Ceramic partnered with Mogale City Municipality in Gauteng to sponsor the town's Naga Lipudi Career Science and Resource Centre. The Resource Centre is designed primarily to prepare the youth, from foundation to secondary school phase, to make informed career choices. At the Centre, learners are individually assessed to assist them in identifying their strengths and abilities. Bespoke Ceramic career awareness videos have been produced to assist all schools visiting the Centre to improve their awareness of career options in our industry.
In the year under review, more than 300 grade 7 and 12 learners were hosted.
Schools with Special Needs Exhibition Week
Access to education is a basic right in South Africa, but for children with special needs, it is a right that is often compromised. Challenges that special needs learners face range from not having access or opportunity to attend suitable schools, to the difficulties faced when entering the job market after completing school. This year, in partnership with the Department of Education and Mogale City Municipality, Ceramic was the main sponsor of the inaugural Special Schools Technical Skills Career Exhibition and the Principals Seminar for Fundraising programme. The week-long event, that was hosted at the Naga Lipudi Career and Resource Centre in Mogale City, Gauteng, commenced with a day seminar engaging 14 school principals and school governing body members, and 14 officials from the Gauteng West Department of Education. The exhibition programme was conducted by the Department of Education's district office with the objective of showcasing the special needs learners' talents to the public, by creating a marketing platform for the products made by learners. In addition, the programme aimed to educate the community about the importance of early identification of learning barriers for children, and to encourage caregivers to refer such learners to a schooling environment suitable for their needs. The exhibit items were crafted by talented learners from Goudwes Special School, Itumeleng Special School, Boiteko Special School, Itireleng Special School, and Pro Practicum Special School.
Sanitary Pad Dignity Drive
Statistics confirm that girls from disadvantaged communities miss school when menstruating, because they are unable to afford sanitary products. Research highlights that some seven million girls in South Africa miss school for an average of three to five days every month due to period inequality. Our goal is to enable these girls to continue their education without the burden of hygiene risks, discomfort, embarrassment, or the loss of dignity. Each year 1 000 girl learners from the TRAC mathematics and science Programme, an initiative co-funded by Ceramic, benefit from the reusable sanitary pads programmes which is aimed at keeping girls in school during their periods. The reusable pads also have a substantially lower environmental impact than disposable pads.
Zivuseni Agricultural Project and Bona Lesedi Day Care Centre Food Garden
The Zivuseni Agricultural Cooperative is a project based in Vlakfontein, Gauteng, managed by the local community, with the objective of creating employment and fighting poverty through growing agricultural products for subsistence and commercial purposes. The Zivuseni Shaku Agricultural Primary Cooperative Limited Company, which oversees the project, has been supported by Ceramic for more than 10 years. Ceramic's involvement has included providing the cooperative with funding, equipment, infrastructure and mentorship for the project; financed by Ceramic, the Zivuseni members are currently being trained and developed by an industry expert to enable the sustainable food garden to expand production to supply the market. The Department of Agriculture is supportive of the organisation's growth and goal to be self-sufficient and sustainable.
In September 2021, Ceramic also assisted the Bona Lesedi Day Care Centre based in Sharpeville, Vereeniging to establish a food garden.
Since inception, the garden has fed the children who attend the day care, and the intention is to increase output to generate revenue for the Centre.
TopT
Support for ECDs
Research has consistently shown that good early childhood development will have a direct positive impact on a child's long-term health outcome and school performance, which in turn will impact future opportu4ities, and overall wellbeing. Unfortunately, in many parts of the country, ECD centres lack resources and suffer infrastructural challenges.
Over the past year, the TopT team has dedicated resources to assist a number of ECD centres across the country. The TopT Bochum team in Limpopo identified two primary schools and a crèche that needed assistance in the community close to their store. In May 2022, with the support of TopT operations, they visited Senwabarwana Primary School, Sesalome Primary School and Mmakgabo Day Care Centre to donate pencil cases, drawing books, sanitisers, masks, plush toys and scooters to 222 learners.
In May 2022, the Light of the Nation Crèche approached the local TopT store in Polokwane requesting a donation of building materials, after half of the crèche building burnt down. The TopT team assessed the damage and undertook to assist the school with paint and tiles to repair their facilities. Funded by TopT, a local tiler was hired to tile the floors, while five TopT staff members volunteered their time after hours on weekends to paint the centre. The crèche's management team were extremely grateful to be able to re-open the doors to their learners.
TopT Makhi Solar Bag Project
In September 2021, TopT launched the Makhi* Solar Bag Project, with the goal to donate these school bags to learners in communities struggling with frequent electricity outages. These innovative school bags are made locally and have the following specifications: 40% of the material used to construct the bag is made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate ("PET") plastic; the bags have road safety reflectors to enhance visibility of the wearer, and include a solar rechargeable light to be used as a safe alternative source of light; the bags also include a non-detachable rain poncho (to be used for rain protection for both learner and backpack) and have adequate space to store school books and stationery.
During the review period, 1 750 bags were distributed to schools based in Limpopo, KZN and Gauteng.
| * | Makhi, the colloquial Zulu term for neighbour, was selected to reflect TopT's efforts to be a good neighbour by giving back to local communities. |
TopT Champions Cup
After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, TopT hosted the third annual TopT Champions Cup, at the TopT sports field in Acornhoek, Mpumalanga, in April 2022. Eight primary and four high school teams from the neighbouring community participated in this tournament. The day was filled with exciting netball and soccer matches, motivational speeches and entertainment. Each team received a new sports kit and either soccer or netball equipment for use in their respective schools. Each winning team also received funds to address a critical need in their respective schools.
Italtile Retail
The Italtile/University of Pretoria Student Programme
Following two difficult years of lockdown, Italtile's teaching and internship partnership with the University of Pretoria's Department of Marketing Management commenced its fifth successful year during the 2022 calendar year. Curated by Italtile Marketing Manager Nicole Russell, in collaboration with Professor Melanie Wiese and Professor Danita van Heerden – both of whom believe implicitly in the value of bringing "the world of work" into the classroom – the programme seeks to educate students in the real world of retail by immersing them in the day-to-day challenges of the Italtile business. Currently, 79 third-year BCom Marketing Management students have taken on the challenge, which comprises the following modules: Sales Marketing Research (Personal Selling and Account Management), Strategic Marketing Management, an Integrated Practical Marketing Project, International Business Management, and finally, Business Analytics. All of the modules were viewed through the lens of the Italtile business. As part of the final examinations, students will be required to compile a final presentation for their lecturers and Italtile's Marketing Department, encompassing all the elements of their year's learning. Based on these presentations, 10 top students will be offered internships with Italtile.
As testament to the success of the programme over the past five years, five former students are currently employed at various Italtile showrooms in a range of positions including Assistant Manager, Branch Manager and Sales Consultant.
Italtile Retail SharkWise Project
As a central philosophy, Italtile Retail actively seeks new ways to express its LiveGreen mandate in search of more sustainable solutions. Over the years, this has grown into several environmental and community projects, and one of the many focus points of the LiveGreen journey has been around water. This has naturally flowed into the more holistic sphere of water safety. In this regard, Italtile Retail launched the SharkWise Project in 2021, a collaboration between Italtile and ITD, the distributors of Tivoli taps. The project donates R2 from every Tivoli tap purchased from Italtile Retail to the shark conservation work of marine biologist Dr Sara Andreotti, in conjunction with the University of Stellenbosch. Dr Andreotti's holistic shark conservation action programmes are targeted at shifting the narratives around the world's endangered shark populations. Sharks preserve the health of marine ecosystems, but with their numbers declining – mostly due to the negative impact of human interference including shark nets and culling – those marine ecosystems are threatened and increasingly fragile. Dr Andreotti and her passionate team of associates and postgraduate research students work together to publish scientific information in peer review journals that will positively impact shark conservation, create tools that will assist in monitoring shark population numbers, and develop alternatives to the shark-cull programmes that will help solve the shark/human conflict.
CTM and TopT
School shoes for disadvantaged learners
Large numbers of learners from disadvantaged homes in this country do not have appropriate shoes to wear to school. In an endeavour to restore these children's dignity and confidence, the TopT and CTM teams in Limpopo identified a number of schools in the province to receive new school shoes. TopT visited Mapani Primary School and Mitumba Primary School to donate 190 pairs to needy pupils, while the CTM team visited Khunda Primary School in Louis Trichardt to donate school shoes, socks and school bags to the 46 learners enrolled at the school. The three schools were extremely grateful for the assistance the learners received.
CTM
CTM Dignity Drive Project
In 2017, CTM embarked on a Dignity Drive initiative to improve sanitary conditions in disadvantaged schools – a critical need in the local education sector. Research confirms that the poor state of sanitation facilities in many schools nationwide is a serious problem, not only posing a health and safety risk, but often negatively impacting the students' ability to learn and receive a quality education. As a leading retailer of tiles and sanitaryware, our business is well placed to assist in restoring dignity and enhancing learning conditions through improved sanitation for schools in need.
In January 2022, Manamelong Primary School approached CTM to assist with refurbishing their dilapidated bathrooms. With CTM's support, the initial goal to renovate the toilet facilities was expanded to include painting and repairing the school's learning block, and installing bins for the already established recycling programme at the school.
Furthering the goal to restore dignity for learners, CTM also donated reusable sanitary pads to girls in the school from grades 4 to 7; in addition, the learners received a lesson on menstrual and reproductive health.
CTM Champions Cup
In March 2022, CTM hosted the sixth annual Champions Cup at the CTM Sports Field in Meadowlands, Soweto, after a two-year break due to the pandemic. The aim of this tournament is to promote health and fitness among the youth and raise awareness of the availability of the CTM Sports Field for community use. Equally importantly, the event is centred around the opportunity for the victorious schools to win funds to address a critical need in their respective schools. Sixteen schools from the neighbouring communities participated in this year's tournament.
Participants from all 16 schools received new sports kits, shoes and related equipment.
For the games, the schools were grouped into four categories: primary and high school netball and primary and high school soccer. The competition commenced on 14 February 2022, with a week of play-off matches. The two winners of each category earned themselves a place in the final event. On 5 March, the eight remaining schools competed fiercely for their awards, resulting in victories for Tswelelang Primary School, Boikanyo Primary School (defending champions), Dr Beyers Naude Secondary, and Kwadedangendlale High School. The top players in the respective sporting codes also received individual prizes in recognition of their exceptional achievement. Overall, a memorable, fun day was enjoyed by everyone involved.
