Italtile and Ceramic Foundation report

The Foundation continued to support the Italtile Group in maintaining its community-centred sports fields in Meadowlands and Steelpark, Vereeniging, in Gauteng, Thohoyandou in Limpopo, and Acornhoek in Mpumalanga. In addition, in partnership with the brands and business units in the Italtile Group, annual soccer and netball tournaments are hosted for schools situated in the respective communities in which the sports fields are located.

HBF operates three key intervention programmes:

• caregiver intervention: empowering caregivers through the mother and baby initiative programme, fostering healthy parenting relationships.
• child intervention: holistic child development through the mother and baby outreach programme, focusing on movement, touch and play.
• ECD practitioner intervention: offering an accredited early childhood development certification programme to open employment opportunities within the ECD sector.

HBF's mission, "Hamba Bamba Funda" (Move, Touch, Learn), reflects its dedication to breaking the cycle of poverty through quality learning opportunities during the critical first thousand days of a child's life, i.e. age 0 - 2 years.

HBF actively engages with selected communities in Soweto through weekly classes held on Mondays at its community centre.

The Foundation continues to partner with the Dreamfields organisation, which conducts soccer and netball clinics for schools in Mpumalanga (52 schools), Thohoyandou (16 schools), Vereeniging (12 schools), and Hammanskraal, Kagiso, Soweto and Empangeni (eight schools each).

A notable highlight is Umbonambi Primary, a small school 25 km north-east of Richards Bay which had achieved little in netball over the years. The Foundation and Dreamfields' investment in equipment and coaching had an immediate impact resulting in the Umbonambi under-12s reaching the national championships and winning bronze in 2023. The following year, playing as under-13s, they won the national title.

The Umbonambi girls finished unbeaten on the final day and beat St Helena from the Western Cape in the final by two points. When they returned home, celebrations included a school assembly, attended by their parents and guardians, followed by a parade through the village with their trophy. Their achievements have inspired more participation in sport at the school. Girls' enrolment in the weekly DreamLeagues rose from 1 388 to1 506 and boys from 1 464 to 1 627.

The under-10 girls team took part in the provincial championships in Durban, representing the King Cetshwayo district, and emulating their older schoolmates by winning the tournament.

Another highlight is Bintou Camara, a young grade six learner from Totomeng Primary in Meadowlands Soweto who, in 2024, got her first taste of glory on the athletics track. As part of the Gauteng under-12 relay team, she earned a gold medal at the National Athletics Championships. One year later, she achieved three gold medals. Bintou went on to qualify for the provincial finals and won both the 100 m and 200 m sprints at the Gauteng championships. In the 200 m, Bintou won the gold medal in a new national record time of 24,85 seconds, and the following day she won gold again in the 100 m sprint, in a time of 12,5 seconds.

The Judo in Schools programme, initiated by Judo for Peace in 2019, aims to introduce Judo into South African schools as part of a broader effort to enhance education through sports. It collaborates with educators to integrate Judo into school curriculums, ensuring it complements students' academic studies. The programme targets schools in underprivileged communities where sports programmes are limited.

Judo for Peace recognises the potential of Judo not only as a physical discipline but also to teach life skills, instil values and promote social cohesion. The programme has successfully engaged students from diverse backgrounds, fostering inclusivity while promoting both personal and academic development. Aligned with Judo for Peace's mission, the Judo in Schools curriculum is designed to meet the educational needs of learners. It focuses on teaching self-defence techniques and key values such as perseverance, respect and teamwork.

With support from the Foundation, the programme has impacted more than 250 primary school learners annually, since its inception at the Matlhasedi Primary school located in Kagiso. Trained coaches from Judo for Peace conduct regular sessions, teaching the learners the fundamentals of Judo and the core principles of respect, discipline and self-control. The programme encourages learners to balance physical activity with academic performance, offering Judo as both a sport and a tool for personal development.

Students from schools that are sponsored by the Foundation, namely Forte High School, Salvazione Christian School, Mahareng Secondary School and Setlabotjha Primary School, attend the LWS for one week each year to learn about the importance of the environment, how to take care of it and preserve it.

In addition to the annual programme, the Foundation contributed to the World Environment Day held by LWS during the year.

The Foundation continues to work with BirdLife South Africa to support the facilitation and development of community conservation projects via the Empowering People Programme in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.

This project aims to promote education about conservation issues and thereby engender a positive attitude among communities toward the protection of their local ecosystems. Goals include supporting local livelihoods by protecting species, securing ecosystem services, promoting resilience and fostering the equitable use of natural resources through communityled conservation and education initiatives. Key activities include upskilling BirdLife South Africa community bird guides, training environmental monitors/education officers, and investing in school and community education projects.

The Foundation also contributed to BirdLife's Red List Project. BirdLife is the official scientific source of information on birds for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species - a compendium on the threats to species, their ecological requirements, their habitats and conservation actions that can be taken to reduce extinction. BirdLife, as the unique global authority on birds, is coordinating the process of evaluating all of the world's bird species against the Red List categories and criteria in order to assess their extinction risk.

The latest version of the Red Data Book that was launched in May 2025 can be viewed online: https://www.birdlife.org.za/red-data-book/

SAWC conducts nature conservation training that covers the full spectrum of skills needed in the conservation industry. The practical hands-on training focuses on providing courses that will provide career opportunities to people already employed in the conservation sector and those seeking to enter the sector. The courses are also designed to help transform the biodiversity of the region and develop Southern Africa's existing protected area network and broader transfrontier conservation areas.

The Foundation funded four learners to attend the Youth Access Bridging Programme, a six-month youth development programme aimed at transitioning school leavers into the field of conservation. The learners started the course in July 2024 and completed it in December 2024. The programme's structure involves five months of contact training, followed by practical experience in host organisations for three weeks.

The MCF is a non-profit organisation supporting social development and environmental conservation in Southern Africa. The programme aims to upskill and train black youth and local community members as qualified field guides at luxury safari lodge level. MCF's goal is to increase employment and gender equity in participating lodges.

The one-year career guide course includes six months of theory, including 17 modules and an apprentice trails programme; six months of experiential training (in-lodge practical placement with partner lodges) and practical training through a "get your hands dirty" initiative in local communities.

Following Joy Mathebula's graduation from the programme in December 2023, the Foundation contributed toward the selection of a new student, Deirdre Kulani Mboweni, to join the six-month field guide training. She was born and raised in Limpopo and is an accomplished netball player who represented Limpopo in the national tournaments.