Corporates in South Africa will participate in the national Employee Volunteer Week which runs from 5 to 11 March 2007.
This annual celebration enables thousands of South Africans to sacrifice their time by offering assistance to non-profit organisations. Telkom, as a responsible corporate citizen, will participate in a number of activities, co-ordinated by the Telkom Foundation, during this period.
Telkom Foundation CEO Nkhetheleng Vokwana says Employee Volunteer Week allows employees to actively participate in corporate social investment initiatives.
"Most employees are keen to participate in social upliftment programmes, but due to time constraints and work commitment they are unable to volunteer their time. We call upon all employees in the country to participate in the week's activities and show the true South African spirit of ubuntu," says Vokwana.
She says the spirit of volunteerism should not end during the volunteer week, but should continue throughout years.
"Telkom encourages its employees to plough back into their communities through its existing programme which include Giving from the Heart - where employees' charitable actions are matched rand for rand by the company (every rand a Telkom employee gives to a charity is matched by a rand from Telkom).
During the Employee Volunteer Week, Telkom Foundation will co-ordinate social upliftment programmes throughout the country. These programmes will include the refurbishment of Matsheka Primary School in Hammanskraal.
The Telkom Foundation has also planned the following activities nationally:
On 7 March, employees will clean the premises of the House of Resurection in the Eastern Cape and in Gauteng they will paint the dormitories at The Amazing Grace Children's Home. On 8 March employees will assist with the refurbishment of the Masheka Primary School in Hammanskraal; on 9 March employees will participate in sport activities as well as teaching mats and science at the New Horizons School in the Free State. In KwaZulu-Natal employees will prepare a soccer field for the community children at the Sethani project and on 10 March employees will participate in sports activities as well as teaching maths and science and motivational speaking.
Kindly attribute all comment to: Nketheleng Vokwana, CEO of Telkom Foundation.
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Telkom SA Limited is Africa's largest integrated communications company. Telkom provides public switched communication services in South Africa and offers fixed-line voice and data services, branded as Telkom. Telkom participates in the South African mobile communications market through its 50% shareholding in Vodacom, the largest mobile communications network operator in South Africa based on total estimated customers. Telkom's infrastructure is composed of terrestrial, undersea and satellite communications and pathways, broadband circuits and connections that enable voice, data and video communication services.
Telkom has approximately 4.7 million telephone access lines in service as of March 2006. Telkom had consolidated operating revenue of R47.6 billion for the year ended 31 March 2006. Telkom's subsidiaries include Telkom Directory Services (Pty) Ltd which provides complete yellow and white pages directory services as well as electronic services, and Swiftnet (Pty) Ltd. Swifnet trades under the name of FastNet Wireless Service and provides synchronous wireless access on Telkom's X25 network, Saponet-P, to its customers.
Telkom strongly believes in corporate social investment and has a dedicated wing, the Telkom Foundation, which focuses in investing and developing previously disadvantaged South African communities. The foundation spend R50.2 million in the year ended 31 March 2006 on projects relating to ICT planning and infrastructure roll-out; education and training; and, empowerment of women, children and people with disabilities.
Telkom has always viewed South Africa's effective transformation as imperative for its sustainable long-term growth. Empowerment and the transformation of the economy are central to Telkom's BEE strategy. During the year ended 31 March 2006, 67% of Telkom's procurement spend was on BEE companies. In addition, Telkom trained 18 black SMMEs and a total of 1 181 suppliers at an estimated cost of R7.1 million.
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