MTN opens Business Support Centre in Moretele

The community of Moretele today witnessed the inauguration of the Business Support Centre (BSC). The centre was established to provide administration and business development support services to 50 selected small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME).

MTN Foundation, through the BSC, endeavours to identify, develop and support suppliers that can deliver goods and services to MTN SA Foundation and grow MTN SA Foundation's supplier database. These will then be loaded to the MTN SA database as regional suppliers. This intervention is linked with the regional Local Economic Development's (LED's) plans of identifying, developing and supporting small businesses.

“This will be a platform for recruiting, developing and supporting regional suppliers. BSC aims to support, raise business skills level to suppliers that can deliver goods and services to organisations. Furthermore, this will assist towards increasing the probabilities of success among start-ups and break the survivalist cycle among established SMMEs. To date, 50 SMMEs and NGOs have received training and mentorship,” said Eunice Maluleke, Head of MTN SA Foundation.

The second part of the event saw MTN launch health initiatives in Moretele where the community was encouraged to screen for lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, TB and HIV/AIDS conducted in partnership with the local clinic, hospital and NGOs. Other basic government services, such as grant application, birth registration, counselling services and ID application, were available to the community on the day. Another important service on the day was RICA, where the community was invited to register their mobile phones as per government legislation.

MTN SA Foundation believes access to healthcare is of critical importance to the development of the community; and that by implementing projects at three levels, namely disease prevention, treatment, and care and support, overall community health can be improved.

“Good health, dependable infrastructure, quality education and opportunities for entrepreneurship are all necessary for individuals, families and ultimately, the stability of the entire community,” echoed Maluleke.

After a period of training and workshops, 20 home-based caregivers were awarded their certification. The caregivers who completed the accredited home-based care course will help address the shortage of nurses and overloading of hospitals by patients suffering from chronic diseases. The programmes are aimed at up-skilling community careworkers to be confident and knowledgeable in their work.

Maluleke said: “The introduction of school-based programmes empowered learners with the knowledge and skills to prevent, among others, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and HIV infection, enabling them to make informed decisions about their lives. The training is aligned to the Life Orientation curriculum and with the trained learner peer educators from high schools and educators who attend the workshops, it is estimated that with each peer educator reaching a minimum of 10 learners, 12 000 people were reached during 2009.”

People living in rural communities across South Africa face multiple challenges every day. Cycles of poverty are exacerbated by high rates of unemployment, lack of infrastructure and poor economic development. Basic services such as healthcare are often lacking, or situated so far away that villagers have to walk many kilometres to reach them.

“A whole-community approach does not only target the next generation. Our interventions help to highlight where the greatest needs lie in the rest of the community, and inform the kinds of projects that we will implement. While schools are our entry point, it is our aim to build infrastructure, increase capacity and create economic opportunities that will benefit every community member,” concluded Maluleke.