A community activist in partnership with Shoprite cleans up the streets of Stutterheim

A community activist in partnership with Shoprite cleans up the streets of Stutterheim
From left - Derek Jones, Barry Mqekeka, Loyiso Mpongwana and Amkela Mzayifani.

On Mandela Day, the Shoprite employees at Stutterheim near Queenstown in partnership with Insideman, an NPO lead by a community activist Loyiso Mpongwana hosted a clean-up.

Mpogwana says, the clean-up initiative started in December 2018 when their municipality could not clean the streets of Stutterheim. He saw a gap not only to help out but to start a recycling centre which assists the unemployed NPO members with some form of income. Yesterday, more than 60 community members participated and collected 147 bags of rubbish.

Throughout July, former President Nelson Mandela’s birthday month, the retailer is mobilising its 147 000-strong employee base to become a force for change in the communities they serve. They will be assisting at food gardens, serving with its fleet of 19 Mobile Soup Kitchens and finding practical ways of strengthening relations with organisations that benefit from its surplus food donations. Stores are also organising community cleanups in conjunction with recycling partners.

“Beyond promoting volunteerism within our ranks, we are keen to launch a movement of active citizens, explains the Group’s CSI spokesperson, Lunga Schoeman. “We are therefore encouraging our customers to join us in doing good by signing up to any of the initiatives listed on www.actforchange.africa.”

“For us, every day is Mandela Day as we remain true to our commitment to fight hunger, support early childhood development and act for change in our communities,” Schoeman continues.

The Group does this through many initiatives including:

  • Its 84 sustainable community food gardens which support 18 000 people.

  • Its support of 84 early childhood development centres across South Africa, which has resulted in 3 700 children benefiting from trained carers, better school infrastructure and a daily meal.

  • Shoprite’s Mobile Soup Kitchens that serve more than 16 000 nutritious meals every day to communities in need.

  • Shoprite’s support of play pumps, which means 10 000 people have access to clean drinking water each day.

  • The more than 100 organisations that benefit from surplus food donations from Shoprite and Checkers stores every week.