JOHANNESBURG; 21 April 2015 – Corporate South Africa’s response to current xenophobic attacks in the country escalated significantly on Monday, as companies face pressure from civil society, media and other African governments to show that they are taking action against the deplorable violence being inflicted on foreign nationals in the country.
Chairman and founder of Gift of the Givers, Imtiaz Sooliman told Moneyweb that his organisation was flooded on Monday with requests from corporates, media houses and ordinary citizens asking how they could get involved. “The response from South Africans has been excellent. People from all walks of life, rich, poor, old, young… We don’t know who the people are, people are just giving out of their goodwill,” Sooliman said.
Among corporates that have reached out to one of Africa’s largest disaster-response NGOs are MTN; Old Mutual; Nedbank; Vodacom; Absa; Mutual & Federal; Liberty Life; Engen; Russell and Associates; Stuttaford Van Lines; and Massmart, which has donated groceries to refugee camps.
“Corporates are facing pressure from the countries where they operate. Governments want to know what they are doing about xenophobic attacks,” Sooliman said.
Unilever, Gift of the Givers main CSI partner in South Africa, is giving beyond its regular contributions by, for example, providing hygiene packs to those in refugee camps.
Other faith-based organisations, such as Primrose Methodist Church, His People Christian Church and Godfirst Rosebank, are supporting Gift of the Givers or have launched their own relief efforts.
Primrose Methodist, for instance, has started a feeding scheme and fed 1,200 people on Sunday.
I AM AFRICA, meanwhile, is a civil society movement “by ordinary Africans to break the silence against xenophobia and to initiate real action for people affected”.
In its latest development, Gift of the Givers, originally established on the instruction of a Sufi Sheik in 1992, is setting up a transit refugee camp at Christ Church in Mayfair, Johannesburg. This adds to the Isipingo and Chatsworth refugee centres it has already established in Durban.
‘MTN Nigeria belongs to Nigerians’
Responding to unofficial reports that Nigeria has threatened to close South African businesses, Chris Maroleng, executive for MTN group corporate affairs, said that no punitive measures had been taken against MTN Nigeria, the cellular operator’s largest market.
“In the minds of our customers, they don’t see MTN as a South African company. They see it as their company, as a local company that employs local staff, creates jobs, pays taxes and creates opportunities,” Maroleng remarked, pointing out that MTN has operated in the country for almost 15 years, investing at a time when it was not fashionable to have a “so-called Africa strategy, as if we are outside of Africa”.
Maroleng said MTN is very much a part of the other African communities (of which there are 18) in which it operates. He said that “during the hype of Ebola”, MTN continued operations in West Africa, remaining committed to customers and governments in these countries.
“We have activated an SMS line where our customers can contribute R2 towards our #AfricaUnite campaign to support the victims of the xenophobic attacks,” Maroleng said.
Majority Naspers-owned pay-TV provider, MultiChoice flighted the ‘#NoToXenophobia We are All African’ campaign on its platforms over the weekend. MultiChoice operates across sub-Saharan Africa and said it “respects and embraces diversity”.
On behalf of all South Africa’s banks, as well as foreign-owned banks with operations in South Africa, the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) last week issued a statement condemning attacks on foreign nationals.
“We acknowledge the fact that many South African citizens are unemployed. However, the assertion that immigrants are displacing South Africans from jobs or enterprises is not founded on empirical data. Instead, data suggests immigrants make a positive contribution to job creation,” said BASA chairman, Sizwe Nxasana.
FNB said it remained “deeply committed” to expanding its African operations, while Barclays Africa said it would continue working with various business organisations, including BASA, in addressing the situation.
Pick n Pay confirmed that it had stores in areas exposed to violence and staff and customers had been affected. “Our stores inside and outside South Africa are widely recognised for playing an important and positive role in the communities they serve,” said David North, group executive, strategy and corporate affairs.
Moneyweb
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