As a responsible corporate citizen, Avusa is committed to the social development and empowerment of the broader community by contributing to various corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives. In the review period, the group spent over R16,7 million on CSI initiatives.
Avusa’s business units support CSI initiatives related to their specific activities or locations. The programmes chosen during the review period are largely aligned with the corporate strategy and the national agenda in that the focus on education and literacy ties in with promoting the group’s business interests. Operational senior executives control divisional CSI budgets and grants, and report on their activities at Avusa’s executive committee meetings.
Avusa’s CSI programme does not support commercial ventures, religious organisations, tours and exchanges, individuals, sporting activities or bursaries.
Getting a nation to read
Almost a decade ago, in a move to formalise its corporate social responsibility programme, Exclusive Books established the Exclusive Books Reading Trust. The three trustees are Zakes Mda, Mandla Langa and Brian Wafawarowa, all well-known and highly respected figures in the South African literary world. The Exclusive Books Reading Trust stems from a consortium formed between Exclusive Books and the Reading Trust to operate a retail outlet at the domestic departures terminal at Johannesburg’s international airport in 2002.
The public image of Exclusive Books is that of a chain of bookshops catering to a sophisticated reading market. But beyond that, the company considers itself a partner of all schools and libraries in South Africa, to make books accessible to the wider population and to encourage a reading culture in this country.
The Reading Trust was established to fund literacy, library and reading projects around the country, with particular emphasis on donating children’s books and developing children’s reading. Over the years, the trust has opened libraries in cities and rural areas, where the gift of a library often means more than just a place of books. It becomes a community centre, a place of safety, where people can meet and take time to read a book, narrate a story or even catch up on news.
Besides libraries, the Reading Trust donates thousands of books every year to various organisations and charities, supporting remarkable projects being run in this country by remarkable people. The Exclusive Books Reading Trust is privileged to be working with some of these, sharing its passionate belief that books can change lives.