South Africa’s leading oil company, Engen has launched a campaign to support the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic by educating local communities on safety measures to curb the spread of the virus. They have branded 35 spaza shops in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and the Western Cape, with educational murals to convey important messages on personal safety.
The messages are written in a number of local languages and they emphasize the importance of regularly washing hands, physical distancing, covering one’s mouth when coughing and sneezing and regularly cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.
Khalid Latiff, Engen General Manager for Corporate Strategy and Communications said the campaign is targeted at heavily populated townships and informal settlements whose residents may not have access to social and traditional media channels.
“We have acted with urgency in the fight against the pandemic by converting our existing OOH (Out of Home) platforms, which we usually use for paraffin safety messaging into Covid-19 educational billboards,” said Latiff.
Engen has provided Spaza shop owners with information brochures and hand sanitizers for their own and customers’ use, as well as getting training on safety and hygiene measures to pass on to their customers. The oil company will also be paying shop owners for the use of their premises as media space, in an effort to make sure that small businesses survive through the lockdown.
“We hope this will support their businesses by helping them with their cash flow and ensure that they are able to survive the national lockdown and prosper beyond it,” said Latiff. In addition, Engen will also broadcast safety and hygiene messages on 40 digital screens in townships across the Gauteng and Western Cape provinces.
