Corporate social investment is an integral part of our value creation process. It is a key instrument that we use to improve our business, the country’s financial and insurance industries, and overall communities.
We identified four pillars, which we actively develop and maintain. These include education, skills development, humanitarian and staff initiatives, and community upliftment.
Sasria is committed to the education of the youth with the aim of helping high school learners to explore the different career opportunities available within Sasria and the insurance sector.
For more information, download our career guidance booklet here.
Humanitarian and employee initiatives
In the spirit of giving, our Corporate Social Investment (CSI) department identified an opportunity for Sasria staff to get involved in making a difference in communities in which they reside. We’ve also sponsored various non-profit programs. We have seen an increase in staff participation on humanitarian activities. These include:
Back to school initiative
Through this initiative, employees donate school uniforms to students who come from underprivileged backgrounds.
Mandela Day
Our partnership with Amor and IIG (Insurance Institute of Gauteng) has resulted in us assisting in the building of 16 homes for the community of Delmas.
Food security project
In the spirit of giving, our Corporate Social Investment (CSI) department identified an opportunity for Sasria staff to get involved in making a difference in communities in which they reside. We partnered with the Bryan Habana Foundation (BHF) in collaboration with Boxer & PicknPay, where food parcels were distributed to various communities, to initiate a Food Security project impacting beneficiaries in four (4) provinces – KZN, Gauteng ,Western Cape and Limpopo.
Skills development
We have developed a list of programmes with the aim of growing and developing skilled professionals in the insurance sector. These programmes include an Insurance Leadership Development Programme( ILDP) , Industry skills development programmes, and a Sasria graduate programme.
The Insurance Leadership Development Program (ILDP) was launched in 2016 by the Insurance Institute of Gauteng (IIG) in partnership with Sasria SOC Limited to respond to the skills challenge within the short-term insurance industry, particularly the challenges around historically disadvantaged individuals at senior levels.
Read more about our skills development programmes.
Graduate programme
In order to prepare increasing numbers of young people and adults with the education and skills required by the economy and for further learning and career development, Sasria is contributing towards the development of skills and capacity in the financial sector.
The Sasria Graduate Internship programme aims to create a pipeline of young talent within the business. This is a two-year programme that provides young graduates with professional skills and exposure to the corporate environment. The graduates are provided with meaningful work and are thoroughly prepared for the working environment. The programme offers graduates an opportunity to gain on-the-job practical workplace experience while providing on-going support and training.
Click here to view our current graduate programme.
Education
Our objectives in CSI are to contribute mainly to education as a focus area. Sasria has allocated the largest portion of its expenditure to a range of educational initiatives focusing on tertiary intervention, school intervention and consumer education.
Primestars Maths & Science revision programme
The programme is aimed at preparing disadvantaged South African youth for their Matric final examinations. This initiative is an endeavour to stimulate and encourage growth of Engineers and Scientists in the country. It’s specifically aimed at providing examination-focused support to Grade 12 learners from underprivileged communities in preparation for the final matriculation examinations. This programme is done through our partnership with Primestars, a youth development programme for high school learners from under-served communities, with support from the Department of Education. They use Ster Kinekor cinemas nationally as “Educational Theatres of Learning”
Bursary programme
The Sasria bursary programme aims to provide matriculants with funding at tertiary level. The aim is to award bursaries to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to further their studies. This is done in line with our company strategic objective to be a good corporate citizen and to support the objectives of the National Development Plan. We are happy with the results of our initiative and we believe that we are helping our society in creating capacity and capabilities in the human capital and financial sector.
The Sasria bursary scheme is intended for tertiary students, with the purpose of supporting tertiary education focusing on increasing the pass rate, creating a talent pipeline and contributing towards more bursary schemes.
Thuthuka programme
Sasria is committed to contributing towards the South African transformation and skills development through providing financial assistance for students who are accepted for the Thuthuka Programme and are studying towards an accounting qualification. The Thuthuka Bursary (TBF) operating under TEUF, states that its primary activity is aimed at assisting disadvantaged African and Coloured students to become chartered accountants (CAs [SA]).
High school intervention
Sasria provided significant infrastructure and resource support to schools that have been identified by the Department of Education (Enkalweni Primary School), including the renovation of classrooms, the construction of computer labs, and upgrading of ablution facilities. The aim is to uplift poor performing districts by providing support as per the departments request.
Community upliftment
In our journey of creating value, growth and impact, we actively choose to take our communities along through our community upliftment programmes. Our initiatives support a better understanding and proactive mitigation of social and business risk in identified communities.
Sack farming initiative
The Sack farming project, done in partnership with Enactus students, helps us to increase the availability and accessibility of nutritious food in communities through the establishment of permaculture food gardens in schools. Schools are encouraged to grow their own food to supplement their school feeding schemes and generate income. The project has already expanded from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape.