In the spirit of Human Rights Day, which is celebrated on the 21st of March in South Africa, we asked Mokgadi Ramaroka, head of transformation, people management, and training, to share how Bidvest Prestige is helping to make life a little easier for the people and communities around us.
As part of our Social Economic Development drive, Bidvest Prestige supports a number of non-profit organisations by supplying cleaning services and/or cleaning materials where they are needed most. We believe that a clean, hygienic environment is of the utmost importance and we assist the communities around us in achieving this as best we can.
Meals on Wheels Polokwane
Meals on Wheels is a multi-faceted welfare non-profit organisation that provides nutritious meals and food security to poverty-stricken South Africans. Their aim is a hunger-free country, ensuring every elderly person and child can go to bed with a full stomach.
Bidvest Prestige supports Meals on Wheels Polokwane by providing professional services, in the form of cleaners. We have employed three full-time cleaners who work at the Meals on Wheels premises ensuring a clean working environment. This is especially important considering that numerous meals are prepared here daily.
Middelburg Hospice
Hospice Middelburg reaches out to terminal cancer patients offering free nursing and medical care.
Bidvest Prestige supports this initiative by providing cleaning materials on a monthly basis, and has been doing so for the last eight years.
Siyabonga Children’s Home
Siyabonga Children’s Home, in the East Rand of Johannesburg, acts against poverty on various levels by addressing the basic needs of disadvantaged people and giving those who can and will, opportunities to become self-supported. Siyabonga Children’s Home strives to provide relief for desperate families through food vouchers, and aims to help people become more self-sufficient through basic training.
Bidvest Prestige has been supporting this non-profit organisation for a number of years by providing monthly cleaning materials.
Avalon
Avalon is a residential facility for people with physical disabilities. Avalon aims to provide high-quality residential care and services for improved quality of life, while considering and respecting the rights of people with disabilities.
Bidvest Prestige supports the home with daily cleaning services, as well as monthly cleaning materials, to ensure that the residents are living in a clean and pleasant environment.
Bidvest Prestige also believes in the importance of looking after their own people, which is done through bursaries and learnerships on various levels. Mokgadi Ramaroka noted that “we put our employees first”, and that we, as a company, are really trying to consistently and equally touch each person in some way.
Education for children of Bidvest Prestige employees
Employees that earn under a certain income bracket and meet qualifying criteria are offered bursaries for their children including contributions towards school fees (where applicable) stationery vouchers, uniform contributions, and access to extra classes and tutoring when needed. There is no limit as to how many children are covered, provided that the child passes their studies each year.
In addition, those who pass matric with over 75% are considered for all-inclusive tertiary education bursaries.
Learnerships for employees
Employees are given the opportunity to educate themselves through learnerships, which are available to everyone from unskilled workers to top level management. Learnerships provided include ABET training for those who cannot read or write, NQF Level 1 hygiene and cleaning, computer skills, business administration, and much more.
These learnerships are open to everyone in the company and covered in full, although certain criteria must be adhered to.
Mokgadi Ramaroka explained that education plays an important role in creating a sustainable benefit to underprivileged people and the communities around them; “We prefer to help in terms of education as this is sustainable and can be taken into the future.”
At Bidvest Prestige we believe in ‘creating sustainable opportunities for all’ starting with our own people.