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Click here to watch the footage taken by News24 at the Long Walk for Rhino's Mandela Day initiative at Robben Island School. (QVC donated Media Liaison to this initiative as part of its Mandela Day initiatives)

 Quo Vadis Communications on a field trip to KwaZulu Natal for client, Siyazisiza Trust.

Victoria Makalima, assistant Director for the Johnson and Johnson Burn Treatment Centre (left) and Roger Crawford, Executive Director, Worldwide Government Affairs and Policy for Johnson & Johnson (back right) happily assisted Nurse Ester Manson and clinical officer William Kalua from Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi throughout their two-week specialised training session at the Burn Treatment Centre at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. The training took place as a result of a public private partnership between the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Johnson & Johnson, and the University of North Carolina in USA. The hospital in Malawi recently opened a burn unit and the hands-on training Ester and William received at the leading burn treatment centre in Africa, will no doubt make a huge difference in the lives of those in need.

Released: 15 August 2011

South Africa’s steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, is slowly killing the future of many young people in the Joko Tea and Bophelong Townships in Vanderbijlpark, with the fumes produced by its Vanderbijlpark Works plant.

Residents living in these areas are constantly complaining about emissions and the black dust they inhale which comes from Vanderbijlpark Works, so says John Capel, Executive Director at Bench Marks Foundation. 

“ArcelorMittal built its plant in this community without sufficiently and transparently negotiating with the residents first to explain what its plan was,” said Capel. “Now the company is making money at the expense of these community member’s lives.”

While the company fails to offer enough jobs to members of the surrounding communities, the fumes produced by its Vanderbijlpark Works plant leave the residents with sicknesses such as asthma, sinusitis and skin and eye irritations.

Thanks to Bench Marks’ Monitoring Action Project, the community members are now able to examine and report on the outcomes of such industrial operations in their areas.

Established in 2009, the Monitoring Action Project is a Bench Marks Foundation initiative aimed at monitoring the various effects industries have in the lives of community members and environment.

“Industrial operations, such as mining and chemical extraction industries located close to poor communities, have put the health of residents at risk,” said Brown Motsau, Programme Manager at Bench Marks Foundation.

To fight such business conduct, Bench Marks trains a number of disadvantaged young people around South Africa, providing them with the skills they need in order to monitor the impact industrial operations have on the community.

So far, Bench Marks Foundation has trained more than 60 “monitors” over the past three years from different areas around Southern Africa. The writing and computer skills they have acquired through the training received, has enabled them to observe and document problems faced by their communities. 

The monitors are nominated by local community groups working in the areas where these young people live.

"We believe that there is a need to come up with ways in which to make operations, such as those run by ArcelorMittal, advantageous for all, not just for the shareholders,” Capel added.

"Our aim is to ensure that the operations of big corporations do not, in any way, undermine community life and destroy the environment. This project is doing just that.”

The monitors’ writings and progress reports on the project are available on the website: https://sites.google.com/site/monitoringaction.

The Bench Marks Foundation was launched in 2001 by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in response to the churches’ call in 1993 to monitor and hold businesses accountable in the new South Africa and in Southern Africa. It is chaired by Bishop Jo Seoka.

Last changed: Oct 28 2011 at 3:31 PM