Wot-If Trust in Diepsloot connect local entrepreneurs
to opportunities to earn sustainable incomes.
- Our BEE Machine Donation is an ongoing project where we supply and donate printers/copiers, with full maintenance services included, to non-profit and other organizations that assist with social and economic development. Some of these recipients include underprivileged schools, business incubation hubs, and small businesses. Currently we have more than 100 machines at various organizations, assisting with their office automation needs and with supplier development and upliftment.
We support the Wot-If Trust based in Diepsloot that focus on entrepreneur and supplier development, as well as skills development of the local community. Their various programmes focus on youth development, nurturing education and cultivating a spirit of entrepreneurship, to ensure the creation of sustainable opportunities. They connect local entrepreneurs to opportunities to earn sustainable incomes by providing them with the resources, training and access to markets they need to grow their businesses. At the facility in Diepsloot, the community can access information, technology and resources like printers and photocopiers supplied by the Octopi Group. Read More.
- We built the Amohelang Pre-School in Limpopo, located close to the Uitspanning Village in Marken. The school is next to the Keta Private Nature Reserve. This nursery school nurtures and educates children aged 0 to 5 years from the local community. With donations like toys, puzzles, colouring books, play dough, paint and crayons from employees and support from the Group’s companies, the school was capacitated with furniture, printers, computers, solar energy, a CCTV security system and recreational equipment like jungle gyms, swings, and a trampoline. The school employs two teachers and an assistant.
How We Help
The Octopi Group takes our responsibility to social development and empowerment seriously. To this end, we have initiated a number of community projects that are aimed at sustainably improving people’s lives. With these initiatives, we are not just shaping a compelling growth story for the Group, but also contributing positively to the broader community.
We are part of the YES for Youth Program where unemployed youth are given the opportunity to gain meaningful work experience in the Group’s companies in order to enhance their skills and experience, with a goal of making them more employable. The Youth Employment Service (YES) creates employment opportunities for youth by partnering with businesses to develop learnership programs that not only transform lives, but also unlocks business benefits that drive organisational growth.
- Our Learnership Program gives young people the opportunity to embark on a one-year program where academic theory and work experience are combined, with the goal of permanent employment. Since the inception of our youth development program a number of years ago when we began with a handful of learnerships, we have now evolved into a robust training program accommodating around 95 youth annually. We are proud of the multitude of skills these young people have acquired, ranging from refurbishing and fixing electronic equipment to providing customer support and working in sales.
Amohelag Pre-School in Limpopo nurtures and
educate children aged 0 to 5 years.
TRANSFORMATION
Our passion for transformation and development has led us on an exciting journey where we embraced the need for change and harnessed the strength and power of diversity within our group. We are committed to empowering individuals and serving the surrounding communities by ongoing skills development of both employees and unemployed youth.
The Octopi Group, including all its subsidiaries, has retained our Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Level 1 recognition for four consecutive years. This is a significant achievement and we are very proud of the substantial value this adds to our subsidiary companies and clients, as well as the impact it has on South Africa as a country. The Group is committed to doing business in a manner that ensures long-term sustainability for the benefit of South Africa’s many cultures and communities, as well as our stakeholders. For us, sustainability is a continuous journey and requires a multidisciplinary approach.
SUSTAINABILITY
The Octopi Group endeavours to conduct its business in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way through various practices. We sell used photocopiers that still have many years of use left and not yet reached their lifespan back into the market. By refurbishing and reselling these photocopiers we limit the amount of electronic equipment that would have ended up at landfill sites, thereby reducing our carbon footprint.
The Octopi Group is committed to building a more sustainable future in line with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as supported by South Africa. SDGs form the foundation of our future, therefor we select partners that are aligned with these goals. Our goals are to deliver sustainable value, to positively impact our communities, to make a difference in education, to promote gender equality, to provide job opportunities, to participate in economic growth, and to use technology to reduce our impact on the environment.
Note: The content of this publication has not been approved by the United Nations and does not reflect the views of the United Nations or its officials or Member States.
