Oppenheimer and Rupert families set an example with their R2bn donation to pandemic relief
. Along with Harry Oppenheimer and other business magnates, he set up the Urban Foundation in the wake of the Soweto riots in 1976, with the aim of improving the social and industrial circumstances of urban black people in SA. He also provided seed capital towards the creation of the Small Business Development Corporation in 1979, designed to stimulate entrepreneurship among black communities, especially in Soweto.
Indra Nooyi, former chair and CEO of PepsiCo, has described corporate statespersonship as “one of those phrases that says so much in just two words. It captures an invaluable ambition, that business people can and should aspire to something nobler, something greater, than their bottom line.” Various SA companies have announced measures intended to boost capacities for public health intervention, support small and medium enterprises, keep the supply chains well oiled, and support the establishment of a Solidarity Fund to alleviate suffering and distress. These are laudable steps, but more is needed to match the scale of the challenge, especially the sort of efforts that have been evinced by the Rupert and Oppenheimer families.
Recently, Silicon Valley executives came together to devise ways to use their money and networks to address the social, economic and health impacts of the spread of the coronavirus. This group of business leaders includes the CEOs of Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Netflix, Google and Salesforce.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
From quarantine to stranded: How the coronavirus has changed the lives of South AfricansSunday Times asked ordinary people how the coronavirus was changing their lives.
Read more »
I was just doing my job, says SAA chief pilot who evacuated South Africans from Wuhan“I was just doing my job. It was my country duty. I couldn’t ask someone else to do what I wouldn’t do” – SAA’s modest chief pilot, Captain Vusi Khumalo, brushes aside any adulation and says mission to evacuate South Africans from Wuhan was a team effort
Read more »
South Africans are stocking up on canned goods, Rhodes Food Group saysHouseholds are hoarding long-life products such as canned meat and vegetables, as well as baby food
Read more »
A message to South Africans from the epicentre of the coronavirus crisisWe can’t act when the hospitals are already overwhelmed. We can’t act when people can’t self isolate because that means their families starve. We have to act today.
Read more »
WATCH: South Africans call for 'shutdown' ahead of Ramaphosa's addressPresident Cyril Ramaphosa is set to address the nation on Monday at 7:30pm regarding the coronavirus and many South Africans are calling for a full lockdown.
Read more »
Why South Africans behave this way in times of crisisProfessor Renata Schoeman, a psychiatrist and head of the MBA healthcare programme at the University of Stellenbosch Business School, has an explanation for South Africans’ behaviour during this time of crisis and the palpably heightened levels of an
Read more »