Covid-19 Vouchers, School Stationery, and Shoe Drive

During Covid-19 period from April 2020, the Trust committed and approved R15 million to be spent as financial relief for the poor.

To date, R5 million was spent to acquire 5 000 Covid relief vouchers valued @ R1000 each for distribution to the poor and affected communities. The vouchers were distributed across various provinces at the discretion of the trustees to families in need, and over 2000 families were reached through those vouchers during Covid-19 period and beyond.

During 2023, the Trust approved the remaining vouchers worth R730 000 for distribution to schools through stationery and shoe-drive, the amount was split equally between the two items. The focus was on schools and learners in communities that need the assistance.

The school shoe drive was successfully implemented in partnership with:

• Shoprite Foundation, whose expertise in community projects was instrumental and useful to the mandate of the Trust.

• The shoes were manufactured and supplied by My Walk, a company that specializes in manufacturing 100% recyclable school shoes that are anti-water resistant.

Shoprite was able to invite other business partners, such as Colgate Company and Meals on Wheels, to join the school visits by supplying other essentials to learners.

To date, 7 683 primary school learners of various provinces have received new school shoes as follows:

• 4 482 pairs were distributed to 12 schools in Mpumalanga.

• 3 201 pairs were distributed to 10 schools around Limpopo, Gauteng