Building a Brighter Future: Etex South Africa's Mandela Day Initiative

Building a Brighter Future: Etex South Africa's Mandela Day Initiative.

We can all agree that a sustainable future will be easier to achieve if everyone has access to proper education. That’s why we decided to invest in the improvements of a school not far from our Roodekop plant as part of our 2023 Mandela Day initiative.

After all, a big part of Madiba’s legacy emphasises the importance of education: It allows us to change our lives and provides a space for self-improvement. And it is about more than the development of skills for the sole purpose of economic growth.

The power of education extends beyond the classroom. So, in light of the upcoming Netball World Cup in Cape Town later this month, we decided to tackle the netball courts at Eden Ridge Primary School - or rather, the lack thereof.

Why did we choose Eden Ridge?

After seeking ideas from within our team, we selected an educational initiative proposed by Tornado Vilakazi, one of our devoted team members in production. Vilakazi is studying towards a degree in education and has been working at Eden Ridge Primary School as a student teacher, therefore, he understands the needs of the students better than anyone else.

Eden Ridge Primary School

Situated approximately 20 kilometres from our Roodekop plant, Eden Ridge is an unassuming primary school that serves close to 2,500 pupils. The school consists mostly of makeshift, instant classrooms that do not create an environment that inspires or is conducive to learning.

Among the pressing concerns, the school's lack of proper netball courts stood out as a significant issue that affected the students' sports education and overall well-being.

Netball in the parking lot

Sadly, due to the absence of designated netball courts, the students at Eden Ridge Primary School were forced to make do with an improvised space - the parking lot. Here, they would set up makeshift poles to practice, yet, this came with a price: Each time the students wished to play, they had to ask the teachers to move their vehicles to the road - creating a less-than-ideal situation for both students and educators.

We decided to prioritise this problem, especially since one of their netball teams qualified to compete at district level, and our inspection team identified a flat, paved area on the school grounds that had potential to serve as a proper netball court.

The transformation

To begin the transformation, our team took on the task of de-weeding and cleaning up the identified area and then painted the court in our Siniat brand colours with paint sponsored by some of our wonderful suppliers.

We sponsored (and installed) professional netball hoops and bibs for the players to give the students a sense of team spirit and belonging.

The handover

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Tuesday, the 18th of July 2023, and was attended by alumni and members of the community, as well as members of the Etex South Africa team. Our brand and communications manager, Karabo Tsele, said: “It was great to see the smiles on the students’ faces, and we are very excited to see how our collective efforts in creating a sustainable impact will help the school and its community”.

We are grateful to our sponsors whose involvement allows us to explore further opportunities to assist Edenridge Primary School with its development needs, and we’d like to thank the following companies for their valuable assistance:

• Marley Roofing
• Build it; R&S Timber and Hardware