Since the release of the King II Report on Corporate Governance in 2002, the reporting of economic, social and environmental issues continues to mature. We recognise that our shareholders and other stakeholders require information, other than the traditional financial report, that is concise, pertinent and meaningful in order to measure the group’s sustainability into the future.
Our view of sustainability remains the need to ensure long-term, balanced profitability through innovation and inventiveness, without compromising short-term competitiveness. The needs of all of our stakeholders and our responsibilities to the environment and future generations are considered in our business processes, as we recognise that these will be the source of our ongoing success.
Our primary stakeholders, being our shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, government, local communities and society at large, are all mutually dependent partners in the sustainability process.
We are committed to ensuring value for all stakeholders and maintaining the highest moral and ethical standards.
As a long-established public company, Foschini recognises its responsibility as a corporate citizen towards making a contribution to the real needs of our stakeholders and the communities within which we operate.
We also recognise the importance of contributing to a sustainable economy through growing our business and championing investment initiatives around nation building.
To this end the group, through its corporate social investment programme, has focused on the upliftment of communities within South Africa through the focus areas of arts, culture, environment, bursaries, the disabled, education, health, HIV/AIDS, job creation, poverty alleviation and welfare and public services.
Social investment spending is derived in part from income from the Foschini Foundation, the capital base of which has grown to a market value of R84 million in 2007 from R60 million in 2006. Donations from the foundation are supplemented by direct contributions from the group. The total cash spend from both the foundation and the group amounted to R4,3 million for the financial year under review. Donations of returned merchandise at retail value for the benefit of poverty alleviation and welfare and public service organisations totalled R26,8 million for the same period.
Further donations of cash, sundry equipment, merchandise and services donated by the trading and service divisions totalled R0,5 million. Staff and business partners of the group, of their own volition, contributed R0,3 million from their personal resources to selected charities.
It is well recognised that women and children are the most marginalised and vulnerable members of our society. Women make up the majority of our employees as well as our customers. It is for these reasons that the beneficiaries of our CSI contributions will, where possible, be women and children. These contributions have been directed into the following focus areas:
The allocation of the combined cash spend from the group’s CSI funds and the Foschini Foundation for the year under review is indicated below.
Going forward, our focus areas will be reduced and criteria adapted in order to maximise the impact of these contributions.
Consequently, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) that currently receive funds from us will have to reapply during the coming financial year in accordance with the new focus areas and criteria.
Having a national presence in South Africa means that we will continue to focus on finding suitably registered NGOs and NPOs that themselves operate on a national basis. Child Welfare South Africa is an example of such a nationally-based organisation that we support.
Foschini believes in the need to preserve our diverse cultural and natural heritage and supports organisations that are aligned to this aim. Examples of organisations who received funding during the current year under review include Cape Town City Ballet, Friends of the National Gallery, The Market Theatre, Fairest Cape Association, National Sea Rescue Institute and the World Wide Fund.
The South African Institute of Race Relations independently administers bursaries for the benefit of the children of Foschini employees. Further details are provided in “Employees and Employee Benefits”.
Consideration is given to organisations representing people with disabilities. During the year under review, these included the National Institute for the Blind, Institute for the Deaf, SA Guide Dogs for the Blind, Bel Porto and Headway.
We believe that one of the keys to unlocking the potential of our country lies in the provision of and access to quality education for all citizens and consequently the largest portion of the CSI budget is spent on education. Amongst the organisations that benefited from contributions are:
We also continue to donate class-leading jungle gyms to educare centres in impoverished urban and rural communities in the Western Cape. To date we have donated 18 jungle gyms and plan to roll out more this year.
We continued our funding of the EQUIP programme which is run by the National Business Initiative. During the financial year under review, we supported a cluster of five primary and two high schools in the Western Cape and one school in Gauteng.
Many of the institutions of higher learning provide educational programmes in nearby disadvantaged communities. Amongst those that we support are:
Programmes that give support to disadvantaged students also receive funding. Examples are:
Some of the other organisations working within the education sphere supported by us are:
According to the South African Social Investment Exchange (SASIX):
“South Africans’ access to primary health-care services has improved in the new democracy but we still face serious health-care challenges that unacceptably burden the country. The public health-care system cannot currently meet these challenges alone and multi-sectoral partnerships between government, non-profit organisations, businesses and individuals are essential if we are to achieve and then sustain equitable, quality primary health care for all.”
We accordingly direct funding into this area.
Organisations that we currently support include:
Foschini recognises the contribution required from business to support the national effort in the fight against HIV/AIDS. To this end, our support is directed to organisations that provide as holistic a service as possible. These include:
Through their activities and combined skills, these organisations educate the community about HIV/AIDS, train volunteers to counsel people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, provide home-based care and support orphan-headed households.
Apart from a quality school education, providing the previously disadvantaged with skills to enter the world of work or to start their own businesses is critical to the economic development of the country.
Some of the organisations that received financial support in this regard are:
Poverty still affects a large majority of the citizens of South Africa and thus we provide funding to welfare organisations such as:
The provision of welfare and public services is under pressure and we accordingly support organisations that complement this vital area.
These include:
Returned merchandise comprising clothing, shoes and other group goods is distributed on a monthly basis to national welfare organisations. In total 2 357 boxes of returned merchandise at a selling price of R26,8 million were donated.
In order to cultivate a culture of philanthropy and community involvement amongst the employees and divisions themselves, our Community Builder programme was started in 2004. Individual grants are made available to employees who give of their own time to community service. Trading and service divisions within the group are encouraged to adopt and raise funds for their own community projects and they too may apply for an annual grant from the group CSI funds. To date the following have received assistance in the form of money and goods from Foschini staff:
In addition to the above, the group once again proudly supported the White Ribbon Campaign’s 16 days of activism where society at large are encouraged to “Act Against Abuse”. The campaign focused on increasing the awareness of the negative impact of violence against women and children. A prime motivator for the support of this cause is the fact that the majority of our employees are female, many of whom are mothers. This initiative also allowed for involvement of employees across the group. Trading and service divisions together with key suppliers raised R500 000 for Child Welfare South Africa.
