In the current political status of our country, with Eskom leaving us in the dark, high percentages of people immigrating to seemingly greener pastures and the ever-increasing unemployment rate, it is not always easy to find the reasons to join the #ImStaying movement.  But this story will change your mind, or at least get you thinking.One of our charities that is on the Loving Thy Neighbour platform, Garden of Life was asked by the revolutionary organisation Dare to Love, to start a veggie garden in the heart of Marabastad, where things not only looked like death, but certainly smelled like it too.On the 7th of September 2019, Dare to Love, Garden of Life and a few other NPOs collaborated to clean up the streets and start a vegetable garden.  In the words of Garden of Life’s founder, Steven Barnard: “Spent the morning with Dare to Love team. A wonderful humbling experience. Turning a war zone where people were killed a few days earlier into a place where they now can grow their own food...”

It is people like these, who will help us transform our country. Organisations that are willing to take a stand against poverty, against fear and that will act upon their convictions that will bring about much needed change.  Yes, we are a country in disaster, yes, we are a country with divides, but can we change it?  And the answer simply is, YES, WE CAN.  When we take hands, when we give out of our abundance or sometimes just out of the little, we must give.  It is when we partner with organisations, just like these, that we can, at least bring hope to begin with, and later change will be evident.   We might not see the change today, or even tomorrow, but we will see it, if we all work together.

Garden of Life trains these people, just like Joyce Sithole (seen in this picture) to mend their gardens and generate not only food but create a small business that can generate income to families in impoverished areas.  Today, the 24th of October, more than a month later, these veggies are flourishing, growing and feeding some of the families of Marabastad.    Joyce is even able to sell some of these veggies and generate an income for her family.

On the Loving Thy Neighbour platform we strive to bring people together, people who have something to GIVE.  Not always money, but sometimes just of their TIME, other times of their TALENT and then most times of their MONEY, to enable organisations to continue their good work.  As we all decide to STAY, let’s work together to see South Africa become the beautiful country that we know it to be! Find out more about organisations similar to Garden of Life on our website, at www.lovingthyneighbour.org.

Johannesburg, South Africa, 9 June 2017. The aftermath of devastating fires continues to affect the lives of thousands of people in the Southern Cape. The areas most affected are Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Sedgefield and surrounding towns, villages and informal settlements. The fires have been described as the most destructive spread of fire in a built-up area in the province in at least 30 years. 

They have caused loss of lives, the destruction of homes, and the evacuation of thousands of people. Given the extent of the tragedy, Vuma Reputation Management is calling on all South Africans to stand together and play their part in helping the communities whose lives have been devastated.  “This is a national emergency,” says Janine Hills, CEO of Vuma Reputation Management and a member of the board of Brand South Africa. “Fire is a tragic, unexpected and traumatic experience that can leave you without your home, your valuable or sentimental possessions, and even your pets. 

“Having grown up in the area, I know some of the families and communities affected, and to witness the extent of the destruction is truly heart-breaking,” she says. “It’s at times like these that we have to roll up our sleeves and get involved. We encourage all South Africans to gather together and help the affected communities in whatever way they can.” 

The Southern Cape fire services and disaster management teams are doing incredible work, but others need to get involved, as displaced fire victims start to rebuild their lives, Hills added. By donating basic necessities such as clothing and household items, everyone can do their bit to help a family get back on their feet.  

Here are some of the simple ways Hills suggests that ordinary citizens can assist: 

Take a family in if their home has been destroyed Feed a family Provide people with sandwiches, tea and coffee Offer basics like toothbrushes, facecloths and bottled water

Hand out blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothes Provide support and food for emergency teams who are working hard Be kind and gentle with people – they are in a state of trauma Donate loyalty points from eBucks, Pick ‘n Pay, Woolworths, and Spar, for example.

Donate supplies like tinned food at supermarket collection points Offer your service through community initiatives Donate to legitimate local disaster-relief organisations.

The Knysna Lions have set up the Knysna Lions Fire Fund, for example. Contact Gift of the Givers, or your nearest Makro store to make a donation.    

The Vuma Reputation Management team is donating essential items like nappies, baby formula, wet wipes, tinned food, blankets, and pet food, and urges other companies to follow suit. Hills stresses that people from all walks of life – from the poorest to the wealthiest communities – have been affected. “Recovering from a fire takes a long time, and continued support will be needed to help affected families transition back to a normal life,” says Hills. “This disaster provides us with an opportunity to stand together and show our humanity towards others.” #play-your-part. 

About Vuma Reputation Management

Vuma Reputation Management are experts in reputation management within South Africa and Africa. We specialise in building an organisation’s reputation from the inside out. Our focus areas are crisis communication, media relationship management, government protocol, public relations, media training, and stakeholder relationship management. We have an extensive track record and have implemented work for at least 50 JSE listed companies and operated in10 African countries. We live by the approach of Africans working for Africa. 

For any further information kindly contact: 

Roshnee Pillay

Business DirectorVuma Reputation Management

Tel: +27 82 654 1531Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Pretoria, 10 March 2017: Leading animal health industry company, Bupo Animal Health today announced that it has made a donation to a long serving landscaping services supplier, Reckson Makaringi of T-Rex Gardening Services . The donation, a set of brand new Ryobi landscaping equipment i.e a Trimtec lawnmower, Petrol chain saw, line trimmer and a bush cutter was made in lieu of Bupo Animal Health’s commitment to invest in the community.

The donation is instrumental in developing T-Rex Gardening Service’s service offering and skill set, all the while taking care of the environment that we all are a part of. From the Ceo’s office, Ms. Antonieta Bupo added, “Our organization depends on our community, and without the help of local vendors like T-Rex Gardening Services, we would not be able to provide our services and products in a clean and safe environment and thus it is only right that we support them back.”

Since 2014, Mr. Makaringi has been instrumental in the preparation and maintenance of our garden areas. These and the general spaces around our factory have to be kept highly sanitary at all conditions and this is no small feat.We have spearheaded other initiatives in the past, supporting schools as Mamelodi High School in 2015, 2016 and 2017, Silverton Primary School in 2016 as well as Meyerspark Primary School in 2017. The group CEO, Mr. Oscar Bupo believes that education is fundamental and should be supported at all costs. We are invested in the development of our community and employees and will continue to do so.

To learn more about Bupo Animal Health, its corporate philanthropy initiatives, please visit www.bupoanimalhealth.com

About Bupo Animal Health: Headquartered in Pretoria, Bupo Animal Health is an international South African company that manufactures, imports and distributes veterinary and pharmaceutical products as well as feed additives since 1988. Focusing on service, value chain and efficacy of our products, we aspire to be your preferred partner in Animal Health in Africa. Our products are synonymous of quality, efficacy and with a great element of innovation in each of them. We believe in the wisdom of mother nature, in a clean and friendly environment and offer a team of distinguished professionals, aligned with the ethos of nature’s principles of protection of our habitat. Proof of this is that we own 2.000 hectares of pristine land in Uruguay of natural and plantation forests managed in a sustainable, eco-friendly and conservationist way. We are very proud of this project.Bupo Animal Health has also invested in efficiencies at our factory in South Africa, particularly in the processing of liquids, powders and feed additives.

We have our own branches in South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria and also work closely with a Distribution Network of in the entire African Continent.

Contact

Lloyd Chikamba
Bedson Group, Marketing officer
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
+27128034376

​In partnership with Power Construction, the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government Habitat for Humanity is calling on all active citizens to come together and join them in their Desmond Tutu International Build Week in Pelican Park from the 2 – 6 March.  Responding and putting into action the request in the words of their patron Archbishop Desmond Tutu “Do your little bit of good where you are - it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world’.  

Teams from as far afield as the USA and Ireland will be joining the build event together with 18 of  ​Habitat's International Board of Directors from across the 70 countries in which Habitat operates as they have chosen Cape Town as their venue for their Board meeting this year.   Funding provided by the event helps provide valuable funding for Habitat’s Social Facilitation Programme as part of Habitat’s community development work in the Pelican Park project.     

Through their Social Facilitation Programme in partnership with the communities and galvanising the support of active citizens and other stakeholder partners, communities are empowered to take ownership of their communities through leadership, skills development and self-belief to become the champions of their own developments and their communities.  

“Our five-year goal through our community development process is to meaningfully transform the lives of at least 100, 000 fellow South Africans living in communities across South Africa.  Help us achieve this by joining our team build event, helping to build homes, communities and hope” said Adrienne Burke, Habitat’s Marketing Manager.  If you or your company are interested in getting involved contact Habitat’s Head Office on 021 657 5640.    

Editors notes

Founded in 1996, Habitat for Humanity South Africa is the national organisation of Habitat for Humanity International and part of Habitat’s Europe, Middle East and African region. Habitat South Africa is entirely self-funded and works in partnership with all stakeholders to serve the poor and marginalised in our country. Based on the firm belief that decent shelter provides the greatest opportunity for families to break the cycle of poverty, Habitat works with all people to give a hand up in building homes, communities and hope.    

This press release has been distributed on behalf of our client, Habitat for Humanity South Africa.  

We are thrilled to announce that both the public and private sectors appear to recognize the value of board diversity as BPW SA has been approached in the last month alone, to assist with eleven board vacancies for women on our Register.  Women and men have different interests and perspectives in important areas, and boards are starting to see the importance of utilising these varying experiences to tackle the tremendous challenges. 

BPW SA and the Department of Trade & Industry (the dti) want boards of directors to widen the search for talent by looking beyond the traditional pool of executives and bring new potential to light.  It is for this reason that we have joined forces to provide a Women on Boards programme to create a Register of female leaders in South Africa who are excellently trained and, as a result, are highly sought after by Boards.  After all, why on earth would you voluntarily exclude half the smart people?

Our first group of 19 senior women, all thoroughly trained through our 9-month Women on Boards director development programme and certified by the dti, are now available on our register of Board Potential Women Directors and we urge companies to contact us for potential female directors.

Seven of our graduates are in line for board interviews , many have been interviewed by the media – both radio and magazines – and all will be profiled in the KZN Chamber of Commerce Power Book (2015). As an ongoing service to the graduates, BPW SA continues to raise their profile in an effort to access suitable board placements.  We have proven that board diversity is not a supply problem, but rather a demand problem.

BPW SA is proud to announce that we have incorporated an international module into the Women on Boards programme.  Business acumen - incorporating business finance and strategy - a must in today’s complex landscape. Business acumen is a keen understanding of what it takes for an organization to make money.  It combines financial literacy – the ability to interpret numbers on financial statements – with business literacy – recognizing how strategies and decisions impact these numbers.  Call it a sophisticated business simulation. Call it an exercise in experiential learning. Or call it a board game. Whatever you label it, the simple fact is that the training is fun and will gives participants a true competitive edge.

A recent Women on Board graduate, Tebogo Maziya, who holds a Masters degree in Science, a postgraduate diploma in finance and a B Comm degree says the nine-month journey has been fulfilling. “I learnt there’s a risk and that that risk is manageable. So it’s important for the board to be transparent and accountable and for a board member to be aware of decisions made because they will be held accountable.”  Another graduate, Amantha Maharaj, a BSc electrical engineering graduate with an MBA, who works a top management level at an engineering consultancy says of the programme: “It teaches one to know how a board is structured, what to do, and questions one needs to ask when sitting on a board. It also teaches business risk and how one should view business from a higher level. It was certainly value for money.”

For more information about our Women on Boards Programme, please visit our website at www.bpw-jhbsa.co.za or contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (011) 794-4991.

Business & Professional Women (BPW SA), and the Department of Trade & Industry (the dti) are hosting a business breakfast on 7th August 2014 to launch a unique 3-day Women’s Empowerment Programme in South Africa to provide registered SME’s with the legislative knowledge required to effectively run their business within the parameters of South African law.  

The breakfast is hosted by DDG Mr Mojalefa Mohoto and DDG Mrs Pumla Ncapayi from the DTI and BPW South Africa as well as senior representatives from the JSE and UN-Women and the Commonwealth Business Council.  Various international Ambassadors and High Commissioners will host tables at the event.  A sponsorship fund will be launched at the breakfast for qualifying enterprises.  

Organisations of all sizes in South Africa need to develop and apply sound governance, risk and compliance principles and institute high ethical values. Failure to do so will have devastating consequences for the organisation, including penalties.   For SMEs, the biggest challenge is a lack of understanding around the difficulties associated with becoming compliant.   Understanding the ever-changing regulations makes the difference between a small business thriving – growing the economy and creating jobs – or closing its doors, and thus closing the door on job creation.  

Simply put, you need to know your laws. Know your rights and obligations. In this way you mitigate risk to yourself, your business, your employees and your customers. If done well, it helps to improve business performance and ensure financial success.   If you would like to be part of this Women’s Empowerment Programme, we invite you to join us at this Business Breakfast – tickets are R500 per person or R5000 per table of 10.   

For more information, or to attend the Business Breakfast,
please visit our website at http://www.bpw-jhbsa.co.za/index.php/events/30-future-events/98-business-training-courses.
Website: www.bpw-jhbsa.co.za

{pp}Sixteen charities are set to receive a financial donation and media exposure to acknowledge their efforts in fighting violence against women and children, during the 16 days of activism campaign this month (25 November-10 December). This initiative is a joint effort between The Foschini Group and SAfm in support of this campaign.