At M6T we believe that it is imperative to support and uplift the communities in which we operate to ensure a healthier and more productive South Africa for all. We are committed to creating a sustainable impact and, through the M6T Foundation, the company commits 1% of its after-tax profits to important causes within these communities. Currently our focus is on five key areas: education, environment, health, sports and entrepreneurship.
The importance of education cannot be overstated. An educated population results in an empowered and successful society. The trend within social investment is for corporates to focus funding at the tertiary level to better the talent pool entering the workplace. However, we have chosen a different approach by focusing on basic education, that is, primary and secondary levels. In line with this, M6T has partnered with Sakhelwe Primary School in KwaThema on the East Rand as main sponsor of Achievement Trophies at their annual Prize Giving Day. Encouraging children to strive for excellence in both academics and sports cannot be overstated and such events are both inspirational and aspirational.
We believe that a healthy lifestyle is imperative to overall well being and flourishing, this applies not only to our staff but the community at large. Leading a healthy life is the number one way in which to treat preventable ailments. To bolster the importance of getting fit and healthy, we have partnered with fitness instructors to promote this lifestyle in local communities. In light of the Covid-19 crisis, M6T recently donated 134 cloth masks to Vosloorus Society For Care Of The Aged over and above handling tonnes in both import and export of surgical masks.
Involvement in sports is a great way to foster community values. Although not everyone is meant to become a professional athlete, the values promoted by team sport – discipline, team-work, dedication and fighting spirit – are important to incorporate within communities. We encourage children to participate in physical activity as part of building and maintaining a healthy and socially cohesive nation. Since partnering with Tigers FC under-8s by becoming their kit sponsor last year, the impact has been instant with the youngsters going to win several tournaments towards end of 2019 and cannot wait to see what they will do this year post Corona virus sports activity suspension.
It is becoming increasingly evident that real and sustainable social initiatives need to be undertaken in order to protect and preserve our planet. This important task cannot be left to municipalities and the government alone, rather local communities need to take charge of their surroundings on behalf of future generations. We believe everyone has a part to play in preserving our planet so as a company we promote and partake in community tree-planting, cleaning and recycling initiatives. As a business, we do everything in our powers to reduce our carbon footprint impact including encouraging our customers to shift to big shipments from road to rail. We also actively partake in tree planting during the annual September Arbor Week.
The high levels of unemployment in South Africa remain an impediment to our society’s success. This problem especially impacts and has negative consequences on the youth. Many leading experts purport the idea that a solution to this problem may be in creating small businesses and local entrepreneurship. This idea is one we support but it cannot be achieved with the current lack of resources and limited access to the digital realm within our communities. We have established an incubation facility at our offices to attempt to address this problem. Here we provide free access to the internet and printing facilities to aspiring entrepreneurs as well as mentor-ship to help young people thrive.
