Ethical operations – reporting on the 6 capitals
Social and relationship capital
Clover Mama Afrika
Good corporate citizenship
Good business also means being accountable for our legal, ethical and economic responsibilities. Clover works to provide the profitability our shareholders expect, while aiming to improve the quality of life in the communities where we operate.
The Clover Mama Afrika Trust commenced 12 years ago, in 2004. Since then, Clover Mama Afrika has developed an enviable reputation as one of South Africa's most innovative, effective and sustainable corporate investment programmes, bringing tangible benefits to vulnerable people.
Clover Mama Afrika sets out to restore some of the finest African traditions into modern life, such as caring for one another, passing on skills and protecting the young, the weak and the aged, as well as HIV/Aids victims. Today, the Clover Mama Afrika project strongly emphasises assisting people in disadvantaged communities to help themselves so that they may regain their pride, establish self-sustaining livelihoods and become valuable members of their communities and to society at large.
At the heart of the programme are the carefully chosen mamas, who are already pillars of strength in their communities. Hand-picked by Clover, the mamas are outstanding community icons who empower others to also become community pillars. Clover Mama Afrika passes on essential skills such as cooking, baking, sewing, quilting, mosaic, egg laying projects, welding, hairdressing and food gardening, among others. Based on their skills, the chosen mamas receive tools, equipment and infrastructure needed to create incomes for their communities. Over the last 12 years, Clover Mama Afrika has appointed 42 Mamas to collectively care for over 15 500 children and more than 2 500 elderly people.
Value drivers of the Clover Mama Afrika initiative
- Skills selection centres: Relevant, employable and marketable skills are aligned to the needs of each respective community to ensure that the centres become self-sustainable. After skill-training, Clover Mama Afrika provides start-up equipment to allow for immediate income generation and the passing on of skills.
- Site improvement: Clover Mama Afrika assists communities with repairs and renovations to needed infrastructure, such as ablution facilities. Mama's require the facilities to create safe havens for their charges.
- Monitoring and Evaluation: Clover regularly evaluates each self-help project to identify where interventions may be required to keep them on track.
- Partners: Clover Mama Afrika should ideally partner with other organisations and individuals to most effectively embed sustainability into the fabric of South African society.
Hugely important to the success of Clover Mama Afrika is the open-hearted attitude of the programme's corporate partners and sponsors. Professor Elain Vlok, Clover's manager of Corporate Services, drives Clover Mama Afrika with passion, dedication and insight. She believes that the programme's continuing success is built on a generosity of spirit that is the very essence of Africa's Ubuntu concept, which means “I am what I am because of who we all are''.
Blue chip partners that contribute to the success of Clover Mama Afrika and co-fund 40% of its expenses include the:
- HCI Foundation
- Eqstra Flexi Fleet
- MiX Telematics.
Sustainable impact of Clover Mama Afrika
| Skills training | Clover Mamas/ members trained 2015 |
Clover Mamas/ members trained 2016 |
Operating Clover Mama Afrika centres 2015 |
Operating Clover Mama Afrika centres 2016 |
Skills transferred to fellow community members
2015 |
Skills transferred to fellow community members
2016 |
Employed members earning wages/ salaries as reported 2015 |
Employed members earning wages/ salaries as reported 2016 |
| Sewing | 115 | 121 | 26 | 22 | 1 707 | 1 757 | 60 | 61 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bread Baking Project | 577 | 695 | 24 | 23 | 1 880 | 2 005 | 98 | 98 |
| Cooking & Baking | 84 | 97 | 22 | 21 | 970 | 1 072 | 53 | 53 |
| Food Gardens | 557 | 557 | 21 | 16 | 744 | 775 | 40 | 39 |
| Quilting | 48 | 50 | 13 | 13 | 333 | 345 | 18 | 18 |
| Crochet/Knitting | 28 | 28 | 16 | 14 | 570 | 569 | 15 | 15 |
| Hairdressing | 27 | 32 | 4 | 4 | 118 | 141 | 17 | 17 |
| Pottery/New Earth pottery | 1 | 1/6 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 24 | 3 | 3 |
| Egg farming | 12 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 45 | 42 | 9 | 6 |
| Flower Arrangement | 41 | 41 | 13 | 10 | 576 | 579 | 15 | 15 |
| Beadwork | 21 | 21 | 15 | 11 | 338 | 359 | 22 | 22 |
ADDED VALUE SKILLS
| Skills training | Clover Mamas/ members trained 2015 |
Clover Mamas/ members trained 2016 |
Operating Clover Mama Afrika centres 2015 |
Operating Clover Mama Afrika centres 2016 |
Skills transferred to fellow community members 2015 |
Skills transferred to fellow community members 2016 |
Employed members earning wages/ salaries as reported 2015 |
Employed members earning wages/ salaries as reported 2016 |
| Art/Mosaic | 40/0 | 40/7 | 23 | 21/11 | 574 | 618 | 17 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welding | 8 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Mobile phones/Save a Child | 79/0 | 79/175 | 36/0 | 13/26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Basic Admin/Finance | 45 | 49 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 1 683 | 2 022 | 7 875 | 9 089 | 367 | 364 |
* Food gardens feed over 6000 members per day.
Clover Mama Afrika is an award winning example of sustainable and effective corporate social investment (CSI) that is making a real difference to the lives of many needy South Africans.
In this period of review, Clover received the maximum score under the Socio-Economic Development element of the B-BBEE balanced scorecard.
Clover remains committed to supporting Clover Mama Afrika.
Record of sponsorship and charitable givings
Clover's sponsorship budget for the period under review was submitted and approved by executive management, which takes responsibility for tracking, accounting and reporting to our Social and Ethics Committee on all Clover's sponsorships, donations and charitable givings. Each business unit maintains the documentation to enable transparent reporting. Clover provides sponsorships to earn brand awareness, corporate identity or consumer loyalty that is aligned with Clover's vision and mission. The accompanying table lists Clover's contributions to the Clover Mama Afrika project:
Record of Sponsorships and Charitable Givings (CMA)
| 2015 | 2016 | |
| Education/Training/Skills Development | 2 867 070 | 2 747 337 |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure Development | 1 458 855 | 849 101 |
| Other charitable givings | 869 461 | 995 467 |
| Donation of Clover Products (gifts in kind) |
95 588 | 606 889 |
Awards
Clover Mama Afrika has won prestigious awards since the inception of the project:
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PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF CLOVER MAMA AFRIKA
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Governing stakeholder relationships/consumer relationships
Clover actively engaged with all our stakeholders throughout the year under review. We have identified and prioritised our material stakeholders and evaluated their interests.
As part of risk management, Clover considers how to engage with each recognised stakeholder group. Our most significant stakeholders are those that can materially influence the attainment of Clover's strategic objectives. These groups or individuals can be affected by Clover's actions and operations or their operations can materially impact on Clover's operations.
