Group Five’s Social Economic Development (SED) strategy is about empowering communities in project catchment areas with resources, support and skills that ultimately lead to better lives. Group five aim is to become a benchmark of effective SED within the construction industry by ensuring impact and sustainability of community initiatives. The impact they make on empowerment of communities is immense and goes beyond the borders of South Africa to the rest of the African continent where they operate.
Group five Social Development Programmess:
-Group Five sponsors a number of mobile laboratories for under-privileged schools across the country under the auspices of Technology Research Activity Centre (TRAC) South Africa mobile laboratories. The programme seeks to enable and encourage learners to enter into careers in science, engineering and technology. Technology Research Activity Centre South Africa is a national, non-profit organisation under the University of Stellenbosch and supports science and technology education in South African secondary schools.
– Unemployment remains one of the biggest challenges facing South Africa, particularly in marginalised communities where people lack the skills necessary to access job opportunities. Wherever a construction project is begun, many unemployed and unskilled members of the community assemble at the gate seeking employment. The “People at the Gate” programme is aimed at providing accredited basic construction skills training to unemployed job seekers arriving at the group’s construction sites, with the aim of employing them on projects or elsewhere where their skills can be utilised. Since the programme inception in 2006, 2177 people have been trained and 93% secured jobs.
Women’s Build is an annual initiative implemented under the auspices of the Department of Human Settlements, which entails the construction of residential units for vulnerable and marginalised groups, particularly women. Group Five’s wholly owned subsidiary, Everite, has been involved in this initiative since its inception in 2005, through the sponsorship and installation of ceiling boards on houses built as part of this initiative. Group Five women actively participate in this programme through volunteering their time and skills to build the houses. At the 2014 Human Settlement Govan Mbeki Awards, Group Five was recognized as “The Best Sponsor of the year” by Honorable Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu.
The Blanket Drive Challenge is an annual employee initiative that was launched in 2010 with the aim of helping homeless and needy people during winter. In the first year, over 800 blankets were donated by Group Five employees. The initiative has grown in leaps and bounds with over 12,000 blankets collected todate. It has become a great employee engagement tool as various business units compete against each other to collect the highest number of blankets. The apex of the drive is the prize giving ceremony where the CEO gives awards to the top three businesses that collect the highest number of blankets.
