Corporate Social Investments (CSI)

Alexander Hospice and Rehabilitation Centre is a centre and health care facility that takes care of chronic and terminally ill patients in Alexander and the greater Gauteng areas. The centre accommodates and looks after 30 patients and survives primarily on donations from companies and individuals. The group L second year Hospitality Management students from the School of Tourism and Hospitality (STH), under the supervision of Ms Cynthia Mabaso have taken it upon themselves to maintain the standard of the centre and keep the legacy high as STH has a good, long standing relationship with the hospice.

Raffle and donation lists were compiled in order to raise funds so that adult napkins, non-perishable foods and toiletries could be purchased for the hospice. A donation box for toiletries and non-perishable foods was also placed in the STH reception where staff and students could leave their items and help out. Regular visits to the hospice , ensured that students engaged with the patients and got to know them and upon their second visitation, multiple bags of clothes, plastic bottles which the hospice utilises in a building project , plates and a variety of non-perishable grocery items were donated.

A cycle menu was also drawn up by the students to aid the kitchen staff to cook and provide nutritious meals to the patients. Ongoing fundraising will be continue, which includes a boerewors and cake sale.

Any donations will be highly appreciated not by just the hospice but by the students as well.

To help be part of the Solution, contact:

Ms Cynthia Mabaso

Lecturer: Hospitality Law and Student Liason Coordinator

Tel: 011 559 1152

Email: cmabaso@uj.ac.za​

Tshepang Program for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children is led by Susan Rammekwa and is a program that focuses on providing balanced, nutritious meals to help children focus at school. Children benefitting from the program range from as young as 3 years old all the way to 20 year old adolescents.

Tshepang serves more than 200 children breakfast and lunch each day and has a crèche which holds ± 20 children who also live at the orphanage. They offer help with homework and transport and there is a hair and nail salon on the property to help raise extra funds.

First Visit

The students first visit entailed them becoming more familiar with what Tshepang offers the community, what resources they require and how the STH could assist in providing them. Upon arrival, the STH students were welcomed singing and dancing by very excited students from the orphanage and they were then taken on a tour of the property.

Sponsor

Mintails Gold Mine Company have sponsored the orphanage 2 gas bottles, a gas stove, blankets, hose pipes, gardening tools and many vegetable seeds (tomatoes, beetroot, cabbage and carrots), so that Tshepang may have some form of sustainability.

Nelson Mandela Day 2016

On July 18th, STH welcomed the students from Thsepang to it’s home at the Kerzner building on the UJ Bunting Road Campus with singing and dancing, which was then followed by the South African National Anthem. A presentation was given about the legacy of Nelson Mandela and a motivational speech by the STH’s student liason committee entitled “You can be anyone you want to be”. The students were then given a packed lunch and goodie bag and the rest of the day was filled with fun and games arranged by the second years

To help be part of the Solution, contact:

Ms Cynthia Mabaso

Lecturer: Hospitality Law and Student Liason Coordinator

Tel: 011 559 1152

Email: cmabaso@uj.ac.za​

On the weekend of October 22nd 2016, Dr Peta Thomas from the STH joined SANParks for a mini-conference with the high school teachers from the regions abutting the Kruger Park.

Spokesperson for the Northern Region Divhani Maremba explains that WALOW aims to support Conservation, Eco-tourism and Hospitality courses that are offered in the different institutions in South Africa. He added that the primary beneficiaries of the WALOW programme are Grade 10 and 11 high school learners who are interested in a career in these fields.

Different institutions such as colleges and universities were invited to present on their offered courses, admission requirements and possible bursary opportunities and in the end were also given an opportunity to visit the stalls for more information.

The learners and educators of the first intake were thrilled with the programme and the experience they received and wished that more of such programmes could be offered in other industries. Learners from Raphurele High School said that they have learned so many things in tourism such as housekeeping and hospitality, and also learned that in tourism there is no “I do not know” as an answer. They thanked SANParksfor giving them the wonderful opportunity to experience nature and expose them to potential tourism activities and careers. The learners said that they hope other industries will do more of this so to empower young people.

The sentiments were echoed by another learner from Tshomankane Secondary School who said that they were very thankful to SANParks for affording them the opportunity to learn a lot of things that they theoretically learn in class. He added that they have gained a lot of information that they were going to share with other learners when they go back to their school.

“SANParks is committed to socio economic and educational upliftment of local rural communities’ adjacent to protected areas. We remain indebted to the communities adjacent to our parks that we always want to roll out programmes that will benefit them and their children,” said Park Manager of Marakele Johan Taljaard.

WALOW is an extraordinary programme and the STH looks forward to future collaborations on this project.

To help be part of the Solution, contact:

Prof Llewellyn Leonard

Academic Head: Tourism Management

Tel: 011 559 1036

Email: lleonard@uj.ac.za