Growthpoint’s contribution will go to building a vibrant centre which will house proficiency development initiatives which provide community training in a diversity of skills from computer skills to sewing, beadwork, fabric painting, welding and ironwork, bricklaying as well as a vegetable garden school.

Zikhuliseni will form an integral element of Bophelong Place of Life, in Diepsloot. This initiative includes a number of community upliftment projects. Aakani centre supports some 600 children between the ages of five and 15 by providing meals, homework assistance and a number of skills including computer training and art. “Wings of Life” is a primary school which will soon be supported by a wellness centre to improve the health of its 600 pupils. A SANCA counselling facility for drug/alcohol abuse is also present, with plans to expand.

Bophelong Place of Life is an initiative between the Diepsloot community and a number of charity and welfare organizations, Bryanston Methodist Church and now South Africa’s largest JSE-listed property company Growthpoint Properties Limited, is adding its substantial weight to this valuable initiative.

Elevating this already uplifting collection of community facilities and projects Growthpoint’s Zikhuliseni will house a number of valuable skills training projects, in line with Growthpoint’s focus of growing skills on all levels.

“Zikhuliseni complements and enhances Growthpoint’s corporate social investment programmes, which already includes initiatives such as The Property Point, which nurtures and empowers entrepreneurs, micro and small businesses,” says Growthpoint Properties Limited CEO Norbert Sasse.

The projects which will benefit directly from Growthpoint’s strategic investment in Zikhuliseni include Themba, which provides skills training for women focusing on sewing and craft, was started in 2003 and now has over 100 women registered. The goal of this project is to enable every person in Diepsloot to become self-sufficient through providing training in a number of skills and on graduation, where possible, trainees are supplied with equipment to being their own business. During last year, the trainees earned nearly R250 000 through selling their products and skills. Women are trained in sewing, beadwork and fabric painting. Computer skills will be added to the syllabus once the new Zikhuliseni centre is built, which will also provide a retail outlet and tea garden to attract and encourage spend, especially from tourists,

The Vegetable Garden School trains the residents of Diepsloot to grow cash crops all year round, maintaining the supply of fresh food. The training is certified is provided by AgriSETA and as a result of the popularity and expansion of this project, it will be accommodated in Zikhuliseni.

Training in bricklaying, creating skills to directly benefit the property and construction sector will also take place under the much needed facility of Zikhuliseni, as will welding and ironwork.

Bophelong Place of Life also hope to soon introduce a counseling facility and a “Clinic of Hope” specially designed for HIV/Aids testing and dispensing of anti retroviral medication and sexually transmitted diseases from which all members of the Diepsloot Community can benefit.

“We are proud to be association with the exceptional initiative and are excited about the benefit that Growthpoint’s investment can bring to individuals, the community and to business and the economy in general. We applaud the great work that is being done and the inspiring results being achieved,” says Sasse.