MultiChoice Group today published its Social Impact Report which details how Africa’s leading entertainment company continues to make a meaningful difference in the communities in which it operates. The report demonstrates how MultiChoice carries out its purpose to enrich lives as an integral part of how it manages its business and covers initiatives implemented over the last year which had a significant impact on individuals, businesses, non-profit organisations and companies across the continent.
These initiatives range from using its platform to address social challenges such as gender-based violence, to supporting small businesses and creating job opportunities for the youth, to creating and telling more African stories across the continent and to the world, whilst growing the next generation of storytellers and sports stars.
MultiChoice group spent R446m on CSI initiatives, worked with 2 723 independent service providers, and contributed taxes to the value of R11.2bn across the continent.The Group employs 7 028 employees from 81 nationalities – 47% of which are women and 53% men – while boasting programming in 41 languages and a local content library that exceeds 62 000 hours.
“This is part of our DNA – we strive to make a positive impact across the African continent. We partner with stakeholders on various initiatives sharing our experience and knowledge to deliver sustainable outcomes. Our focus is to empower our beneficiaries to succeed and play their role in the growth of our continent,” says Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO.
A local example of how MultiChoice is partnering with South African entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses is through the MultiChoice Innovation Fund – which links black majority-owned start-ups and small businesses in the technology, e-commerce, digital content, film and media space to the funding and support they need to become industry leaders and create jobs.
MultiChoice partnered with 10 Small and Medium Enterprises in South Africa, creating 47 jobs in the process.
One of these partners Swypa Delivery, a food delivery service born in the South African township of Tembisa in 2019, grew their fleet of four delivery scooters to 15 when the company received financial backing from the MultiChoice Innovation Fund. The funding also allowed them to set up a call centre with world-class equipment, employ more people, and purchase a custom-made app to replace WhatsApp for Business as the ordering platform.
“The Fund’s support went beyond financial aid,” says Swypa MD Thabang Kgopane. “The specialist advice and monthly check-ins with business advisors have boosted our growth and ensured that the funds we received are well spent, it’s one thing to give a person money but contributing to the overall health of the business has been immensely helpful”.
As part of using its platform for good, MultiChoice partnered with the United Nations and World Health Organisation, the national health and education departments to address COVID-19 vaccinations, the spread of misinformation, the disruption to education caused by COVID-19, and the fight against gender-based violence (GBV). The total value of airtime allocated for social good was R271 million.
Creating employment opportunities for the youth was another focus area. This included collaborating with the Youth Employment Service (YES) in South Africa, which saw 300 employment opportunities created; providing bursaries, internships and learnerships.
MultiChoice also continues to support various initiatives through its CSI programmme in South Africa.
The DStv Diski Challenge makes it possible for young players from the reserve teams to break into the Premier Soccer League (PSL). The development goes beyond the sportsmen and gives budding producers an opportunity to help produce the soccer matches that are broadcast live into the homes of thousands of soccer fans.
MultiChoice and the PSL have also used the competition as a catalyst to grow the capabilities of six community TV stations by giving them free broadcast rights to the DStv Diski Challenge.
To date, over 230 players have been promoted to PSL first teams and almost all 32 PSL (Premiership and National First Division) teams have a Diski Challenge graduate in their squad while over 160 players represented the SA national team in international competitions. This year, 10 Diski Challenge graduates were part of the Tokyo Olympics squad.
SuperSport Let’s Play has been giving young people the opportunity to participate in sport activities for the past 15 years and has reached more than 1,5 million children in thousands of schools and communities to improve their overall wellness through social and physical stimulation.
The Let’s Play Learnership programme also has a sport coaching and leadership development for 100 unemployed youth focus. This year four multipurpose sports courts were built in Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape and as a result 3 360 learners now have access to five different sports: hockey, five-a-side soccer, tennis, volleyball and netball.
To learn more about all the development programmes and socio-economic investments, as well as the stories of the people who have benefitted from this extensive support, read about it in the Group’s 2021 Social Report at https://www.investors.multichoice.com/social-investment.
