Click here to listen to the mp3 advert for The Salvation Army's anti-human trafficking message

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.

Initiated by Inyathelo – The South African Institute for Advancement four years ago, the Awards acknowledge, celebrate and profile Philanthropists making a difference in South Africa, as well as encourage and inspire South Africans at all economic levels to give and contribute what they can. By doing so, they take responsibility for South Africa’s social development. 

The following remarkable people received awards:

• Internationally renowned Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and his wife of 50 years, Nomalizo Leah Tutu, have been awarded the Inyathelo Indima-Tema Philanthropy Award for their tireless efforts to enhance the lives of others and their commitment to improving South Africa’s social development. The couple have been the voices that kept the flame of human rights issues burning during apartheid and in the years following freedom in 1994. They now support and assist a wide range of humanitarian initiatives in South Africa. The Award which, loosely translated, means forging a path or reviewing the positive work that you’ve done, was especially created by Inyathelo this year to honour this remarkable couple.
   
• Mr Linda Clement Twala from Alexandra, Johannesburg, was awarded The 2010 Inyathelo Award for Lifetime Philanthropy for his outstanding efforts in providing support for the sick, elderly and youth in his community for the past 43 years. He started the Phuthaditshaba centre in the 1960s as a centre to provide care for the elderly in Alexandra, as well as a wide variety of other activities such as skills and youth development.
  
  
• For creating 18twenty8, an initiative that empowers disadvantaged young women by providing crucial life skills through workshops and mentoring, well-known actress, TV Presenter, voice-over artist and businesswoman, Ms Refiloe Seseane of Johannesburg, has been awarded The 2010 Inyathelo Youth in Philanthropy Award. To date, the organisation has reached and inspired over 750 high-potential girls in Grade 11 and 12 at 11 high schools in Vosloorus, Daveyton, Wattville, Tembisa, Katlehong and Soweto. She has also established the 18twenty8 Big Sister network which pairs educated, professional women who are established in their respective careers with like-minded Little Sisters to mentor them as they plan their careers in a similar field. 18twenty8 is one of the few organisations in South Africa that is 100% led by young women who empower other young women.
  
  
• Ms Ivonne Gentle from Britstown has been awarded The 2010 Inyathelo Philanthropy Award for Women in Philanthropy for establishing Gentle Care, a centre to care for sick people in this remote poverty-stricken district in the Northern Cape. The centre also hosts workshops to teach skills to the community.
   
• South African-born Anthony Record, and his American wife, Carole, who live in the United Kingdom, have been awarded The 2010 Inyathelo Award for International Philanthropy to South Africa for the establishment of Light from Africa. This project is a Ceramic Art Studio, Gallery and philanthropic foundation promoting skills development and employment through ceramic art, and generating funding. Previously unemployed artists in Cape Town use the ceramic skills learnt through the centre to assist in funding the operating costs of several children’s homes in the Western Cape.
   
• By allocating 70% of the shares in his company, Mertech Group, to the totally independent Mergon Foundation, Francois van Niekerk of Pretoria has been able to raise some R30-million per annum to support social investment programmes in South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia and the United Kingdom. He has co-established the Atterbury Trust and the Atterbury Foundation, both aimed at improving education and providing support for those living in poverty, as well as Muthobi, a not-for-profit investment consultancy which links businesses and ground-level organisations together in order to create value for those in greatest need. Van Niekerk’s commitment to improving the lives of others for the past 31 years has him The 2010 Inyathelo Special Recognition Award for Philanthropy.
  
  
• George Mazarakis, Executive Producer of popular investigative programme, Carte Blanche and Trustee of the Carte Blanche Making a Difference Campaign together with the patron of the campaign, Karolina Andropoulos, have been honoured for their use of the media to promote philanthropy generally, and to encourage South Africans to donate, in support of equipping paediatric units in hospitals with life-saving equipment. George and Karolina have jointly been awarded The 2010 Inyathelo Award for the Support of Philanthropy in the Media. The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, King Edward VIII hospital in Durban, Universitas Academic Hospital in Bloemfontein and the Kimberley Hospital Complex have all benefitted from the R71-million raised through this media-based campaign.

• Two Inyathelo Awards for community philanthropy have been awarded this year:
  
  
  • - Mr Jonathan Schrire from Wynberg in the Western Cape was given an Inyathelo Award for Community Philanthropy for his work with the Vrygrond Community Development Trust in the establishment of the Vrygrond public library, Sunrise Preschool and Capricorn Primary School, all of which have impacted fundamentally on the lives of the children in the area. His work in Vrygrond, spanning 15 years, has united a community once plagued with murder, gangsterism and conflict.
    
    
  • -  Recognising the systemic cycle of poverty on many wine farms in the Cape, two far-sighted wine farmers established an equity and profit-sharing initiative that revolutionised the quality of life of farmworkers on the Solms-Delta wine estate in the Franschhoek Valley. As a result of this partnership and the profits from the Wijn de Caab Trust, the nature of relationships on Solms-Delta wine farm have changed dramatically.  The farm labour community, now having equity in the wine farm, also have vastly improved housing, educational opportunities for their children and medical care, to name a few. This sustainable initiative has earned Mark Solms and Richard Astor of the Solms-Delta Wine Farm a 2010 Inyathelo Award for Community Philanthropy.
     
• Two Inyathelo Merit Awards for Philanthropy have been awarded this year"
  
  
  • - Mr Noel de Villiers, founder of AVIS South Africa, saw an opportunity to combine environmental conservation with income-generation in South Africa and neighbouring companies – and established Open Africa as a result.  This non-profit organisation has enabled several communities in rural South Africa and neighbouring countries to generate income through increased tourism along travel journeys off the beaten track.  Open Africa also encourages communities to conserve their environment as they come to understand the value of the environment for tourism. With substantial investment of his personal funds, de Villiers’ dedication to creating tourism- and environment-related opportunities in rural areas, has earned him a 2010 Inyathelo Merit Award for Philanthropy.
    
    
  • - Writer, Richard Mason received the second 2010 Inyathelo Merit Award for Philanthropy for the establishment of the Kay Mason Foundation (KMF). The foundation’s aim is to ensure that talented young people have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, whatever their circumstances, by providing scholarships and bursary support. Mason has also developed Lulutho, an community development programme based in the Eastern Cape which provides training and skills to local residents in setting up sustainable businesses and assists in reviving the local eco-system, as well as assisting KMF students in experiencing the challenges facing rural communities.

For these annual philanthropy awards, philanthropists are nominated by their peers and members of the communities in which they work and by the non-profit organisations that they support. The awardees are chosen according to specific criteria. The review panel members, who come from various civil society, business and philanthropy sectors, evaluate each nomination in detail.

“The response to this year’s awards has been excellent and the calibre of nominees inspiring,” says Shelagh Gastrow, Executive Director for Inyathelo. “It was very hard to narrow the nominees down and finally make a decision as to who to recognise with the 2010 awards. South Africans are doing remarkable things, and all of the nominations we received were inspirational. We applaud everyone for their hard work and commitment.”

Gastrow says it is clear from the nominations received that there are hundreds of South Africans intent on making a difference in their communities and contributing actively to South Africa’s social development.

The awards form part of Inyathelo-The South African Institute for Advancement’s work which aims to build a sustainable South African civil society by developing their own capacity to raise private investment towards advancing their objectives. Whilst working with organisations to develop their resource mobilisation skills, the institute promotes social responsibility, personal philanthropy, voluntarism and self-reliance. 

For more information on the awards go to www.inyathelo.org.za or www.philanthropy.org.za or call Inyathelo -The South African Institute for Advancement on 021 465 6981.

Issued by Quo Vadis Communications on behalf of Inyathelo-The South African Institute for Advancement

About Inyathelo:

The South African Institute for Advancement, colloquially known as Inyathelo (advancement in isiXhosa) is a world-recognised organisation dedicated to building a sustainable South African civil society. Its core work is to advance social change by working with key institutions and non-profit organisations to ensure their long-term sustainability. This is done by developing their own capacity to raise private investment towards advancing their objectives. Whilst working with organisations to develop their resource mobilisation skills, the institute promotes social responsibility, personal philanthropy, voluntarism and self-reliance. 

Last changed: Nov 23 2010 at 11:24 AM