N Hangana: Foschini Group donation to Child Welfare South Africa

29 June 2007

Programme Director
The Foschini Group Human Resource (HR) Director, Shani Naidoo
Senior Foschini Group HR Manager, Karde Buys
Professor Dasarath Chetty, President of Child Welfare South Africa
(CWSA),
Chairperson of the National Board and National Executive Committee of
CWSA
Members of the media
To all the distinguished guests

The safety of our women and children remains a responsibility we
collectively share. This is the call we made as 16 Days Campaign when we
embarked upon this important task. We called on all the sectors of our society
to partner with government in its endeavour to create a violence free society,
particularly for our women and children.

This is why I am particularly humbled by the supportive response that
Foschini Group has and continues to display to this call. By taking all the
trouble of raising this R500 000 which I am told is by far the largest
contribution you made to date, gives me and the millions of those hopeless
abused children out there, a sense of hope that they are not alone but most
importantly that they will one day reclaims their lives and grow up to be
responsible and productive citizens. With your consistent support you are
indeed demonstrating a true meaning of the notion 'that your child is mine and
mine is yours,' exactly the kind of spirit we need to build the future of this
country. By investing in these children you are investing in your own business
because it won't be long before Foschini has more customers (after they have
grown up to be productive citizens).

I guess what I am trying to say to Foschini Group is that as government, we
value your contribution. How I so wish other big businesses could join in and
be part of this campaign, for it is only when we fight this scourge together
that we can make a dent to it.

To the CWSA, you deserve exclusive praise. You brought the plight of these
children all around the country on the national agenda. With limited resources
you continue to save these children from abusive homes and take them to your
care. You remain our national pride and your commitment to driving national
programmes relating to this field cannot go unnoticed.

I hope today's donation by Foschini Group will make a positive contribution
and that you will be able to maximise your support to these children I also
hope that you will utilise the bigger chunk of it to the most vulnerable
children who live in the rural areas and informal settlements.

It is time we put to action our declaration we made at the Kopanong
Conference in May last year when we said, "We challenge our progressive
Constitution to be progressive in protecting our women and children as well and
there is no better start than to have our big business behind us."

I hope that their support will continue to shine especially now that our
activities will no longer be confined to a 16-day period but throughout the
year, every year. Last week we took the campaign to Bloemfontein and got a
shocking of my life to discover that there is a very unfortunate trend that is
now beginning. Most children are now heads of households because they lost
their parents to AIDS.

With no recourses and non-existent opportunities of employment they resort
to doing drugs, crime and unsafe sex all of which does not do any good in
extricating themselves out of these undesirable situations. I was even told
that some die committing crime. I am sure we all agree that with such scenarios
we are virtually headed to a doomed society.

I am glad we are doing something about it, only this time we have to beef up
our action before it is too late to do anything.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Provincial and Local Government
29 June 2007