On the 15^th March 2014 the AIrports Company South Africa, Cape Town International Airport (ACSA CTIA) will for the first time be supporting the Cape Town Carnival. The airport contributed R250 000 towards the building of a float, costume design and festival dance coaching for a group of girls from Zonnebloem Secondary School located near the airport. This is a small way that the airport is contributing towards the carnival and subsequently helping with youth skills development and the creation of a variety of jobs.

The carnival’s elements of culture, diversity and uplifting communities are the back bone to ACSA’s Corporate Social Investment values and belief systems. The carnival empowers unskilled and unemployed youth by providing them with the necessary skills they need to become successful in life. 

"The airport looks at initiatives which are sustainable and empowering to communities surrounding the airport. Our business is not only about airports - it's about giving back to our communities. So, as an airport operator, contributing toward the development and sustainability of our communities is very important to us.” said Deidre Davids, Communications Manager at Cape Town International Airport."Through this donation we are also contributing towards skills development for unemployed youths for the months leading up to the festival - through costume design and the building of the float, skills which will come in handy are being transferred to a number of youth in Cape Town," added Davids.

The airport has an annual CSI budget which focuses on youth development, community development, enterprise development, mobility and education within Cape Town. This includes the educational initiatives, which rewards seven schools each year who are within the airport's vicinity who had the highest Matric pass rate. The key flagship projects for the airport are TRAC Western Cape (Technology Research Activity Centre) which focuses on improving disadvantaged school’s Math and Science marks for learners in Grade 11 and 12.  Heart Capital - a Social Enterprise accelerator that helps the youth become entrepreneurs.  Learn to Earn - an organisation that teaches unemployed youth skills that will help them get jobs or open their own business. Last but not least, Beyond Education initiative, a Recycle Swop Shop, a place where children can swap bags of recyclable items for essentials such as books, pens, clothing, shoes, toiletries and deodorants.

"The upliftment of the airports immediate surrounding communities is important to us and in achieving this we have to ensure that whatever support we give leads to self-reliant and sustainable projects which benefits the people living in these communities," concluded Davids.

ACCSA’s float is sure to be a major highlight at this year’s carnival. The design is a top secret and will remain a surprise until it takes to the skies on the fan walk 15 March 2014.