Jet partners with the Institute for Security Studies and the Seven Passes Initiative to expand primary violence prevention programme
On 11 Oct 2017 Jet, the discount division of Edcon, announced a three-year, multi-million Rand commitment to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Seven Passes Initiative to support the implementation and scale-up of interventions shown to reduce and prevent violence.
Edcon General Manager: Transformation – Sustainability, Enterprise / Supplier Development and CSI, Elelwane Pahlana, said: “Personal safety is a key concern for all South Africans, and especially low-income single mothers, who are amongst the most vulnerable and suffer the highest incidence of personal violence . We all need South Africa to be the best place in the world to raise a child. Family is the core of the economy and we believe that an investment in mothers is an investment in the future.”
Part of the initial investment was used to fund the National Violence Prevention Dialogue Forum meeting, that was held in Touwsranten on 11 & 12 October.
The Dialogue Forum bridges the gap between academics and NGOs who have developed and tested violence prevention programmes, and the practitioners and officials who are responsible for providing services to clients in communities around the country.
The Seven Passes Initiative is the beneficiary of Jet’s investment and will use the funds to strengthen the programmes offered to high school and primary school children in the afternoons and during the holidays.
The parenting programmes will also be extended to include the nearby community of Wilderness Heights, where the organisation has not worked before.
Wilmi Dippenaar, Director of the Seven Passes Initiative, says: “When we started our programmes 10 years ago there were no graduates in our community. We started with nine children attending our homework classes. Today more than 430 children come to our programmes every afternoon, there are 10 young people who have gone on to university, and many more who have enrolled at FET colleges.”
Naizel Buys, Chair of the Seven Passes board, was one of the first young people to come to the homework classes. She is now a qualified teacher and teaches Grade 4 at the Touwsranten Primary School. She plays a key leadership role in the organisation and the community.
“The unacceptably high level of violence in our country is destroying the fabric of our society,” says Ms Pahlana. “Innovative solutions are required to solve the problem and we are honoured to be able to help. South Africa is a special place and we will not stand idly by when it is within our power to make a difference.”
