Shell Downstream South Africa Social Investment

These contributions take the form of financial assistance, in-kind donations, volunteering and sharing expertise. Our main focus areas in South Africa are Maths and Science Education, Youth Enterprise Development and Road Safety.

We work in partnership with civil society organisations to develop programmes that are:

• Strategic in approach and therefore linked to our core downstream business
• Participatory in process by involving various relevant stakeholders
• Systematic in measurement by continually monitoring and tracking progress to confirm whether project objectives are being met
• Sustainable in design to ensure the investment continues to make a positive impact in local communities beyond Shell’s involvement and; yields returns to both the company and community through socio-economic benefit for the community and responsible and caring community partner for the organisation.

Let’s take a look at each focus area.

Maths and Science Education  - Shell’s Education programmes focus on building educator and learner capacity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to reduce scarce skills and also create a talent pipeline for Shell.

 Programmes in Maths and Science

1. Rally to Numeracy – Our flagship education programme was introduced in 2011 and has now been rolled out in Kwazulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Free State. The programme has helped to increase educator understanding and teaching of the Mathematic syllabus - in turn improved the numeracy levels in beneficiary schools.
2. Scholarships for Maths & Science learners -  Annually Shell provides scholarships to high potential learners from rural and remote locations to study in leading private schools
3. Bursary programme – Shell provides bursaries for tertiary education annually based on financial need and high academic performance.

Youth Enterprise Development

LiveWIRE is one of Shell’s social investment programmes  that  offers youth enterprise development training in order to equip young people with skills needed to combat youth unemployment and poverty levels, particularly in developing countries.

Shell introduced this programme in South Africa in 1995. It has recently been reviewed and revitalised and the new version was re-launched in 2014 in Johannesburg. This new version signifies a new era for youth enterprise development in the country. The programme is facilitated by Raizcorp, Shell’s service provider for LiveWIRE 2.0.

Shell Road Safety initiatives are aimed at improving the safety of children travelling on roads to and from school. Our flagship programme in this area is the “Safe to School, Safe to Home” programme being implemented by Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSPSA). We are also in partnership with the South African National Road Agency (SANRAL) and they will assist with providing road safety education to educators and learners. Through this initiative we will also assess the low-cost engineering needs around the schools and thereafter, install the necessary low-cost engineering amenities.  This programme is currently being piloted in 5 schools in Katlehong.