Taking corporate responsibility to the townships of South Africa

ABB has a long history of corporate social investment. Here, a snapshot of some philanthropic work taking place at ABB in South Africa.

In the depths of Westbury, a township outside Johannesburg in South Africa, there is a ragged building with steel-barred windows and chipped stairs leading to a room full of joyously screaming voices.

It is a jarring contrast. So much hardship – broken down vehicles and burned out buildings – set against a group of kids and teenagers working hard to change their lives.

Non-violent conflict resoltion

Gangs and drugs cause serious problems, with many youths being attracted to the drug dealing gangs by the promise of easy money. Conquest for Life is a local community organization that confronts this social problem by offering young people an alternative to a life of crime.

ABB supports the organization in activities ranging from drug awareness programs and courses in non-violent conflict resolution to the creation of opportunities in micro-enterprise.

The program’s director, Glen Steyn, has been at the helm for six years. He says it is a battle to win funding, especially in recent years, which Steyn says have been marked by an increased focus on Black empowerment and affirmative action, rather than upliftment of the previously disadvantaged.

He says the struggle, the late nights and cold mornings, are worth it in the end.

The leaders of today

“A lot of people think young people are the leaders of tomorrow,” he says while taking a few minutes away from the rebuilding of electrical systems and computers taking place in the background. “We think they are the leaders of today.”

A look around the makeshift rooms that Conquest for Life calls home is an eye-opening experience. Donated partitions separate working areas from a classroom and rustic kitchen. Computer monitors, keyboards and drives are strewn across the floor in one area, destined to be rebuilt and used for accounting or maths or learning basic computer skills. Teams work on projects in each nook and cranny of the building, a cacophony of sounds rushing toward the main office.

“Who are you?” asks one boy as he walks past to join his friends in the back. Once there, he quickly resumes working on a project geared toward improving his academic performance. Says Steyn, “Many of these kids, even if they attend school every day of the year, can’t achieve the skill level needed to get into college or university – the proper teaching and infrastructure just isn’t in place.”

It is a bold statement, and one that warrants further scrutiny. Steyn says that his experience, first as a student growing up in the area, and later with work at the center, has taught him that additional schooling is a must. "The teachers often do their best," he says. "But, they are understaffed and underresourced."

Good luck

Steyn says one aspect of Conquest for Life is to give kids the chance to study longer and better than in the nation’s classrooms. A hand-drawn sign on the wall, written in Afrikaans says, “Good luck in your exams.”

Steyn has learned the hard way that a good idea like Conquest for Life only goes so far. After that, it’s business plans offset by theft, crime and rehabilitation. It is a visit from the Netherlands that brings new funding. It is also the awareness that the best student can sometimes turn bad – there is always the temptation of the streets.

“There is an 80 percent unemployment rate in Westbury,” says Steyn. “We need to change these kids’ mindset, give them the skills to get jobs, and support them on their way to moving up.”

ABB's involvement

ABB supports Steyn’s program with a financial stipend each year and, in addition to the partitions, provided electrical tools and parts to fix a system blown out by an explosion at the next door gas station. Joos Lemmer, CSI program coordinator at ABB in South Africa, says he has learned through the years – first when he started out training young Blacks for IBM, and later during his career with ABB – that it’s more important to give time than money.

“We at ABB are not a checkbook operation,” says Lemmer, a white-haired and boisterous character the kids have taken to calling Uncle. “It’s far more valuable, what we’re doing here today, bringing kitchen equipment and our time, than writing a check and saying ‘do with it what you may.’”

Steyn agrees. “There needs to be sustainability, we have to be held accountable. We are a community-based non-government organizations (NGO) and it’s the only way we can transform the place into a business.”

Lemmer says ABB’s work with Conquest for Life marks a trend toward greater involvement in the implementation of corporate social investment.

As ABB’s stakeholder base broadens, he says, taking in shareholders, employees and society at large, the group comes under greater and greater scrutiny.

“We are now seeing a trend for companies to seek meaningful ways of contributing to corporate social responsibility,” says Michael Robertson, in ABB’s Environmental Affairs team. “Growing interest in this issue from stakeholders is one driving factor, particularly from stakeholders in global companies. In some cases initiatives are triggered to counter adverse public reaction to particular shortcomings.”

Steyn says he has no criticism.

In an area plagued by gangsterism – kids are often born into generational gangs at the age of six – the good influence of corporate expertise shines through.

“The support we’re getting may not be a lot of thousands of Rand,” continues Steyn. “But, when there is an urgent need, I always know where to go to. Joos, and in turn ABB, always go out of their way to help.”

For more information on corporate social investment in South Africa, contact Joos Lemmer, or Cheryl Muller. To read the full ABB in South Africa document on “Affirmative action, Black economic empowerment and corporate social investment,” please contact Chesney Bradshaw.

If you have any comments about this article, please e-mail the author, Wylie Rogers .