Communities hail Glencore's free Wi-Fi project.
In its pursuit to continue to progress together with communities, Glencore Ferroalloys saw it fit to expand the already many ways in which it supports its host communities, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In striving to understand the ever-changing needs of their doorstep communities, Glencore established its free Wi-Fi initiative to enable community members to access information through the internet. This is especially beneficial for the learners in education facilities around Glencore's operations who can continue to fulfil their educational needs despite the impact of the pandemic.
Before Glencore's free Wi-Fi, the Bakwena Secondary School existed for over 20 years without access to the internet for the students. "This is the first time that our students have access to Wi-Fi at the school and we have already seen the positive impact of Glencore's free Wi-Fi in such a short space of time. We recently had a visit from a local Technikon and they were able to assist our Grade 72 learners to apply online. This is something we would previously not have been able to do and we are really grateful to Glencore for this initiative" said the Bakwena Secondary School Principal, Mr Segale.
In addition to improving the way lessons are conducted for the students at the Bakwena Secondary School, the school Administrator Paul Thipe says he often finds learners from other schools in the community lined up outside their school to also use the Glencore free Wi-Fi. "This project is reaching so many people in the community and it's so amazing to see learners from different schools get assisted with their research projects through Glencore's free Wi-Fi" he added.
Joel Sikoe, a grade 72 student at the Bakwena Secondary School says the Wi-Fi is especially useful as they prepare for exams and university applications for next year, "This time of the year is when we actually need Wi-Fi the most because we have to download previous exam papers and do our online applications for university. Thank you so much to Glencore for making life so much easier for us as students." he concluded.
"We really pride ourselves in being of service to our host communities. Throughout its existence Glencore has rolled out numerous projects with the purpose of responding to the challenges faced by communities. With Glencore's free Wi-Fi initiative, we've had a lot of community members reach out to tell us how thankful they are for this kind support because of how expensive data is. As it stands, daily users have increased to over 2500 per day which shows the rapid impact of this initiative in communities." said Rhovan Mine's Corporate Social Investment Manager Dunkeld Molapisi.
Further to benefit from the Glencore free Wi-Fi initiative is Charora Secondary School. Being the only high school around the Glencore Boshoek Operation, having access to free Wi-Fi has had a positive impact on the Charora Secondary School. Allowing students and educators to thrive during these trying times is a huge success for the mining giant as this speaks to Glencore's Progress Together narrative and as an entity they strive to progress together without leaving anyone behind. The free Wi-Fi has had
a number of benefits in the community and the education system in Boshoek, Mabel Mutle the Principal of Charora Secondary School shared her experience and gratitude with Glencore for the free Wi-Fi access. "There has since been a decrease in absenteeism and learners tend to work more independently while having access to old question papers to equip them. Learners have started showing more eagerness in wanting to learn more and spending additional hours at school, all while increasing their tech savvy.
Administratively the school is more efficient, communication with external stakeholders electronically as well as teachers using Google to enhance lessons has made a tremendous impact on the education system not only making it more current and modern but also equipping the educators with a new skills. The school did not have funds for data, now myself and all teachers make use of technology and we are efficient, says Ms Mabel Mutle the Principal of Charora Secondary School.
Glencore's free Wi-Fi initiative began when they launched Project lsizwe by sponsoring free Wi-Fi in designated Wi-Fi hotspots to communities around their Rustenburg operations. This part of the project began with ten Wi-Fi hotspots while a further 22 hotspots were installed around Sekhukhune Operations during the month of June. The Wi-Fi hotspots are located at some schools, libraries, multi-purpose community centres, clinics, taxi ranks and shopping centres to reach as many people in the community as possible. "Seeing the positive impact that has resulted from the Glencore Free Wi-Fi has been quite affirming for us
at Glencore. We understand that this period has been particularly difficult for most South Africans and we wanted to do as much as we could to help lift the burden. The Glencore Free Wi-Fi has made a significant difference in helping people access information and to find different ways of empowering themselves." said Kabelo Mondi, Glencore's Western Limb Operations Corporate Social Investment Manager.
Through the Glencore free Wi-Fi, host communities are saving almost R3 million per month on data costs. With this initiative and many of its other CSI programmes, Glencore continues to build lasting relationships with their host communities and assist government to fill some of the gaps related to service delivery in communities.
