A cookery school in a
container is making more
than a difference to the Cape
Town community in Langa
where the Eziko Cooking
School – established sixteen
years ago in six converted
Safmarine containers – is
turning out highly trained
graduates, many of whom
are employed at top hotels in
and around the city.
It’s part and parcel of
Safmarine’s Containers-inthe-
Community programme
started in the early 1990s
when porthole or blown-air
reefer containers were being
phased out.
Peter James, Safmarine’s
public affairs director at the
time, saw the potential of
using these well-insulated
containers for community
development purposes – and
two decades later the line
continues to support the
development of marginalised
communities by providing
container-based infrastructure,
mostly for educational
purposes.
James says while container
conversions were nothing
new at the time, what made
Safmarine different from other
companies was its decision to
focus on helping those in need
and in no way trying to profit
financially out of the exercise.
“It is important to bear
in the mind that the early
1990s was a time of political
and social change in South
Africa. Safmarine wanted
to contribute practically
and tangibly to this change,
which is why many of our
initial projects focused on job
creation and education.”
And while reaction from
the community was positive
from the very beginning,
James says the project was
not without its challenges
– chief among these being
sustainability.
“Although our aim was to
add value to communities as
soon as possible by providing
a quick infrastructural
solution, we soon realised
the importance of each
project having a ‘champion’
and the resources to provide
permanence through active
management and control.”
He says while Safmarine
cannot be responsible for the
overall sustainability of each
and every project to which it
has donated containers, the
company’s aim has always
been to provide a solid
foundation for sustainability
by providing the infrastructure
for community upliftment
projects. “It is pleasing to see
that many of the projects we
supported in the mid to early
1990s are still in operation
today.”
James, who retired from
Safmarine in 1999, believes
the Containers-in-the-
Community programme is as
relevant to Safmarine in 2012
as it was in the 1990s.
“Using containers for
community development
purposes has benefited not
only communities, but also
Safmarine. It has done much
to enhance the company’s
reputation as a company with
a significant caring label
attached to it. The programme
also continues to be a very
positive mechanism for
developing and strengthening
relationships between
communities and Safmarine’s
customers and staff.”
To date Safmarine has
donated more than 8000
containers which have been
used in more than 3000
projects in South Africa,
Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Liberia and Brazil.
CAPTION
Safmarine Southern African PR and CSR manager Patricia Simons and
former Safmarine director Peter James (far right) with the director of the
Eziko Cooking School, Victor Mguqulwa ... Safmarine has donated more
than 8000 containers.
