The Community of Blackburn has always been close to our hearts, many of the people living in this community are employed by the Sibaya Casino and the surrounding businesses in the area, said Vivian Reddy the Chairman of Sibaya Casino and Sibaya Community Trust.
He added that making the decisions to uplift this community has always been easy for the Trustees.
Apart from our many activities to serve the people of Blackburn during COVID times and beyond with sanitation packs, food supply, medical checks, etc, we also embarked on building a custom made fully fitted soup kitchen to cater for hundreds of the poorest of the poor in Blackburn Village he added.
Our commitment to Blackburn did not stop here, today is a proud moment for Sibaya Community Trust and the Casino to officially hand over a fully upgraded and renovated building which lay derelict for many years.
The fact that this building will bring opportunities and fresh hope to many within this large settlement, which is home to approximately 8,000 people is most fulfilling.
Many residents are unemployed and living conditions are challenging within the settlement said Reddy.This building will be used as an incubation hub to develop and nurture entrepreneurs with the hope of them taking the first step to becoming fully self-reliant and to be future employees, and in the process creating new opportunities for growth.
This incubation hub will be used for business opportunities, skills development and entrepreneurial programmes that is going to be introduced.
We are delighted to note that confirmation has been received from Hooper Motors for the donation to start the Creative Sewing Initiative as the first business at this skills centre, this will provide employment and enterprise development for multiple Blackburn residents he added.
We are further delighted to note that The Municipal Business Support Unit will take over the management of this Hub and will be advertising for residents to submit proposals to compete for the remaining three spaces within this Hub.
There are many ideas and budding businesses within the settlement with great talent.
One such proposal that came from residents here is for a computer centre to teach coding, and also to be used as a print centre and jobs portal/internet café. Another is for shoe repairs and leather bag making.
We have full faith in the people of Blackburn to create a legacy of their own, let’s give them all they support we can to see them flourish and succeed said Reddy
To date Sibaya Community Trust has invested over R230-million to uplift and empower masses in our communities, our portfolio of evidence includes projects such as:
· The Chief Albert Luthuli Skills Centre in Kwadukuza where over 2,000 students graduated in various skills
· Imbeleko Digital centre in the Valley of a Thousand Hills where coding is taught to students.
We wish the community of Blackburn Village much success and we will be watching your progress with many blessings he added.
Representing the Mayor at the official hand over was Councillor Busi Ndlovu, who mentioned her association with Sibaya Casino goes a long way back when it was called Sugar Mill.
Sibaya Community Trust has always been at the forefront of Community upliftment, and she thanked Vivian Reddy for his commitment to changing the lives of the vulnerable.
