TRANSNET Port Terminals (TPT) staff across the country paid a touching tribute to SA’s former President, Nelson Mandela, on the anniversary of his death on 5 December.
This year will mark the third year since Madiba’s passing and in memory of their hero, who was the ultimate humanitarian, TPT continued his legacy with their third consecutive year of coordinating the ‘Shoes on Feet’ initiative.
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Shoes on Feet is a corporate social responsibility initiative that started at TPT’s regional terminals in 2014 and has since been spearheaded by TPT nationally. The initiative entails TPT staff being encouraged to donate as many school shoes as possible or pledge funds to go towards buying shoes for underprivileged students who attend pre-identified schools.
“This humanitarian initiative captures the spirit of Tata Madiba by promoting active citizenry among our employees. We understand the importance of reaching out to communities in need and to make a meaningful difference in the communities we operate in and in particular – in the lives of those less fortunate. Furthermore, TPT has always placed great emphasis on education and this initiative underpins our efforts to create conditions in which education is seen as a priority. As Nelson Mandela once said ‘education is the only weapon that can change the world’, so it is critically important that we do what we can to inspire and motivate these children who are our future leaders to continue going to school and get an education,” stated TPT’s Chief Executive, Nozipho Sithole.
In 2017 the initiative was launched earlier in the year on Mandela Day in July. Collection jars were also distributed to various terminals and placed in common areas for staff to contribute their small change on an ongoing basis. This was done to try make participation and donations by staff more manageable and hopefully ensure an even greater number of shoes could be purchased through their official shoe partner, Toughees, ahead of the final handover of shoes in the new school year of 2018.
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According to Sithole, this year’s Shoes on Feet initiative collection is already on track to surpass the support of previous years.
“Shoes may look like they are not an important essential to others, but to the learners who come from homes who can’t afford them – it symbolises pride and gives confidence to these young learners. It gives students from underprivileged backgrounds an opportunity to succeed in their education while taking comfort in knowing that large companies such as TPT stand behind them,” concluded Sithole.
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