Johannesburg, 01 Nov 2010
The InnoVent Foundation, the social responsibility vehicle for InnoVent Rental and Asset Management Solutions, is helping pave the path to success for Wits students by supporting the Going to University to Succeed Program (GUTS) - an initiative of the Wits Student Equity and Talent Management Unit. Through the foundation, InnoVent recently donated 25 laptops to the GUTS programme.
It is reported that on average, 50% of students who go to university in South Africa drop out without a qualification. Wits University strongly believes it is possible to go to university and obtain a qualification, hence the launch of the Guts programme. The GUTS programme was put in place to support learners from both Grade 11 and 12 who come from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, who would not normally envisage Wits or any higher education as an option in their further education.
Professor Yunus Ballim, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Wits University, says: “As InnoVent is making this much appreciated donation to our students, they are shifting the limits of possibility of going to university and getting an education for these kids. Unfulfilled potential is one of the great crimes in this country and we can't allow that.”
InnoVent also presented a student bursary, which was gratefully received by second year accounting student, Oyama Zinyanga.
Zinyanga, the first recipient of this bursary, hails from KZN and was understandably overjoyed and full of gratitude: “Coming from a small town, we are not used to receiving any information on bursaries. I am truly honoured to receive this bursary. It provides a significant stepping stone towards my goal of becoming a chartered accountant. I would like to sincerely thank InnoVent and Wits University for making this possible for me.”
InnoVent Rental and Asset Management Solutions was established seven years ago by DJ Kumbula (CEO) and Zakhe Khuzwayo (CFO), and it was then that the idea of the InnoVent Foundation was borne. Speaking at the handover ceremony, Khuzwayo said: “This occasion is important to us because it is the culmination of an idea that was planted seven years ago when Kumbula and myself decided to take control of our destinies and build something that would leave a legacy beyond our lifetime. We established the InnoVent Foundation as one of the founding shareholders of the business, so as to ensure that when the business became successful, which we thought was inevitable, the foundation would share in the wealth that was created by InnoVent.”
InnoVent provides total rental and asset management solutions on moveable assets, and boasts clients in the mining, retail, health, financial and professional services as part of its client base. InnoVent also has a division - Qrent - that hires out ICT hardware on a short- or long-term rental basis, or sells it to a secondary market.
Khuzwayo concluded by saying: “We are hoping that this venture will stretch further into the future and benefit not just the students yet to grace the lecture halls of Wits, but other institutions.”
www.innovent.co.za, (011) 884 8274
www.qrent.co.za, (011) 791 0645
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