Corporate Social Review Magazine 1st Quarter 2012 | Página 13

“Vodacom launched the Change
the World initiative to assist NPOs
with much-needed skills, over a
sustained period,” states Tyamzashe. “Although many South Africans have the willingness to offer
their skills to improve the lives of
those around them, not everyone has the means. Through the
Change the World programme, the
volunteers can offer both their time
and skills, at no cost to themselves
or the NPOs.”

He continues, “Moreover, the initiative aims at encouraging the transfer of skills. Although NPOs rely
heavily on traditional cash donations, the lack of appropriate skills
remains a problem. Thus, during
their time at their host organisations, the volunteers will not only
have the opportunity to make an
immediate difference in people’s
lives, but they will also be able to
impart their knowledge, skills and
experience, allowing the NPOs to

benefit from them for many years
to come.”
“We have seen how successful
our 2011 volunteers have been
and how many thousands of lives
they have changed through this
initiative. We know that thousands
more will now benefit from our
2012 volunteers and we wish them
everything of the best in achieving
their admirable goals,” concludes
Tyamzashe.

From each according to his ability,
to each according to his need …
It turns out it was Karl Marx that coined this phrase and,
at the risk of being accused of Obama scale ‘socialism’,
we find little reason to disagree with this simple but
powerful statement.
One thing that becomes clear as
we delve ever deeper into the area
of CSR is that there is no formula,
no pattern, no set way of meeting
our social commitments to each
other and becoming ‘good corporate citizens’.

There are always more causes
than there is money to service
their needs – and there will be as
long as even a single child goes
to sleep hungry. And so, we all do
what we can in whatever way we

Vodacom Change the World 2012 winners with Vodacom MD Sipho Maseko

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CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW

feel we are best able. We do it for
different reasons, we do it expecting different results and we do it in
endlessly different ways. And, as
long as we do something, then the
world is a better place - even if only
by the smallest increment.
As you already know, much of the
content in this publication is – to
one extent or another – ‘user generated’. We feel that there is great