AIrports Company South Africa, Cape Town International Airport (ACSA CTIA) is
for the first time this year supporting the Cape Town Carnival which will be
taking place along the Fan walk on 15 March 2014. 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. This carnival incorporates Cape Town's diverse cultures. It promotes
performing arts and the passion for it as well as uplifting the social economic
environment of communities living in Cape Town.
The elements of culture,
diversity and uplifting communities are the back bones to the company'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. In the
current fiscal year ending March 2014, the airport has spent R 2.5 million
supporting various community projects 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 past rate. The key flagship
projects for the airport are TRAC Western Cape (Technology Research Activity
Centre) which focuses on improving disadvantaged schools Math and Science marks
for learners in Grade 11 and 12. Other projects include Heart Capital - a
Social Enterprise accelerator that helps the youth become entrepreneurs. Learn
to Earn - an organisation that teaches unemployed youth skills which will help
them get jobs or open their own business. These skills include graphic design,
sewing, woodwork and baking.
Last but not least, Beyond Education, 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 airportfs 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.
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