Corporate Social Investment

As a company with strong South African roots, STANLIB is passionate about contributing to the communities in which we operate. Improving the lives of people, across the board is at the heart of our Corporate Social Investment. STANLIB and our employees possess a diversity of skills and resources that we believe could have long-term, positive benefits for the community.

South Africa’s skills shortage is well documented and perhaps the best way to harness this country’s potential is through education. We believe that the responsibility of galvanizing education is not just a responsibility for government; it’s a goal that we all need to work towards.

At STANLIB we have a number of projects that we support and initiatives we have developed, all of which have ‘empowerment through education’ at its heart.

There are a range of existing and new initiatives that STANLIB has committed to; our goal is to ‘help make South Africa even greater’, one community at a time. By investing our resources in education, we feel that we can fast track development and help disadvantaged families escape the poverty trap; we want to make a difference as a company and as individuals.

In keeping with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) code of practice, STANLIB is committed to spending up to 1% of our net profit after tax. It is not only though this funding that we contribute; we also offer our time and support our staff in their own initiatives.

Smartbucks – Mind Your Moolah

In 2012, STANLIB presented a South African first: Smartbucks: Mind your Moolah, an original comedy-drama feature film starring popular comedian, Mpho “Popps” Modikoane. The film instilled financial literacy lessons through the medium of comedy and drama, using the true to life township experiences to resonate with its audience – which was over 15 000 high school learners from disadvantaged communities.

In 2013, hot on the heels of the resounding success of the 2012 screenings, STANLIB is proud to present Smartbucks 2, the sequel that once again follows the antics of Popps as he learns invaluable financial lessons, with a dose of drama and comedy to capture young minds. The movie is made to address some of the biggest challenges facing our youth: over indebtedness, lack of saving and wasteful spending. The angle is different but the message remains the same – no matter who you are and how much you earn, financial literacy is key to making a success out of your life.

Smartbucks 2 will be shown to another 15 000 learners in Ster Kinekor cinemas countrywide on consecutive Sundays from 12 May to 9 June 2013. The schools have been selected by the Department of Basic Education, who have collaborated on the project. Learners get to enjoy the cinema experience for free and, same as last year, will be given interactive booklets to reinforce the financial lessons they have learnt from the film.

Bursaries

We sponsor learners from previously disadvantaged communities who have financial constraints to study at the top high schools throughout the country through our Schools Sponsorship Programme. Our Bursary scheme also sponsors students to study at a recognised South African tertiary institution. Depending on the needs of the students, the sponsorships include tuition, accommodation, book allowances and meal allowances. We also offer bursary recipients the opportunity to do vacation work at STANLIB over the school holidays to gain the relevant experience and offer them a better chance of succeeding in their studies.

Fundisa Fund Grant

In 2006 STANLIB committed to donate R3,6m over three years (R1,2m a year) to the Fundisa Grant pool. This money will be added to the pool of contributions from government as well as the corporate sector to help incentivise investors to save for their child's education. The grant is limited to 25% of the client's annual contributions capped at R600.

School Adoption

In 2009 STANLIB adopted a number of underprivileged primary schools across the country. As part of the “adoption’ we assisted them with small renovations to buildings, cultivating vegetable gardens as well as buying books, sports equipment and school uniforms. Another great initiative was the introduction of lapdesks, a portable desk that was designed and manufactured in South Africa. Some 8,400 learners received lapdesks.

However, during 2011 STANLIB learned that government had declared many of our adopted schools as underperformers due to their unacceptably low scores in Mathematics and English.

STANLIB has since partnered with a government approved NGO, Teach South Africa, to assist the learners of our adopted schools in improving their knowledge. Ten university graduates who specialize in Mathematics and English have been recruited to assist at a cost of R2.4 million. Over a period of two years (January 2012 to December 2013), the graduates will be teaching Mathematics and English to Grades 5 to Grade 7 learners in five of our adopted schools. The Department of Basic Education has endorsed the initiative and these schools have welcomed the intervention.

Employee Matching Scheme

STANLIB employees give of their time and skills to a number of community-building projects each year in their individual capacity. These contributions are making a difference to our country, and in recognition of this, we have an employee matching scheme that will match contributions raised (up to a certain limit) by staff members for a Corporate Social Investment initiative they are passionate about.

Shari’ah Fund Donations

Our investors in the STANLIB Shari'ah Fund elect to donate their non-permissible income (NPI) to charity. STANLIB will be selecting various initiatives to donate money on our clients' behalf.