Barloworld in Business Trust Long Run 2007

Long
Barloworld is a founding member of the Business Trust, a partnership between business and government that aims to stimulate employment, build capacity and enhance trust in South Africa. By combining the things that business and government do best, in areas of mutual interest, the Business Trust aims to accelerate the achievement of national objectives, whilst demonstrating the value of business and government working together.

The Business Trust Long Run is the world’s largest corporate relay. It demonstrates the power of partnership, and that there are some things that cannot be achieved alone. Teams from business government join communities and celebrities to complete a relay across South Africa varying between 1400km and 2000km. Each run changes route, and since 2002 over 6000km have been covered by nearly 4000 runners.

Each day of the run celebrates partnerships for South Africa and its people. Participants visit projects that have benefited from the Business Trust, allowing them a greater understanding of the impact of our work. The run travels through large and (sometimes very) small towns all amidst much festivity. In 2006 the run focused on celebrating South Africa and the people who make it great. The event demonstrates that in the long run, we can make a difference by working together.

Teams Get Something out of Nothing
Successful TEP Supported business in Middleburg

The 2007 Business Trust Long Run hit a high note today when teams from DaimlerChrysler, Bearingman, Hollard, Barloworld, WesBank and BHP Billiton visited Sarah Mahlangu of Witbank, Mpumalanga, who has risen above seemingly insurmountable challenges and formed a business that quite literally has created ‘Something out of Nothing’.

Sarah was unemployed in 1998, yet she rose above her difficult circumstances to come up with the idea of making highly desirable objects to sell to tourists, created from plastic bags, plastic plates, bottles and newspapers that she collected from the local rubbish dump.

Sarah subsequently registered with the Business Trust-linked, Tourism Enterprise Project in January 2001 and was assisted by the project to exhibit at the Ubuntu Village during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002.

Sarah’s positive attitude means that, ‘Something out of Nothing’ now employs six full time workers and many more on a commission basis, drawn from the rural areas surrounding Middleburg. Further proof of her success, is the fact that her turnover has increased by an impressive 500% since 2001.

Runners

The Tourism Enterprise Programme was initiated by the Business Trust in July 2000 as part of their initial strategy to promote tourism development in South Africa as a means of creating jobs and thereby reducing unemployment and poverty.

The programme supports firms in the tourism sector to conclude commercially viable transactions. It does that by enabling emerging businesses to gain access to markets, finance through established financial sources (the programme does not provide direct debt or equity for small firms), skills, and technical support.

In 2005 the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism invested R42m in the extension of the programme to June 2007 and subsequently has committed an additional R143m to expand the programme.

The programme aims to have assisted some 5,500 firms by 2010 conclude transactions to the value of R4,2 billion and create some 60,000 job opportunities.

Jennifer Smith
Head: CSI
Barloworld Limited
Tel +27 11 445 1268
Fax +27 11 445 1581
Cell 082 808 5911

This page was updated on 3 August, 2007

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