Case Study

SCHOOLS FOR AFRICA: GUGULETHU, SOUTH AFRICA

Saint-Gobain has partnered with The Adopt-a-School Foundation to identify schools in South African local communities that need additional facilities to enhance education. One such school is the Sonwabo Primary School in Gugulethu in Western Cape, South Africa.

This school was in desperate need of additional classrooms to alleviate the overcrowding.

Saint-Gobain financed the building of the classrooms and supplied various construction products from the various companies in the group, including Gyproc ceiling boards, Isover ceiling insulation and Weber tiling products and surface preparation for the floor tiles. Saint-Gobain officially handed over the two new classrooms on Monday, 14 March 2016.

In addition, 17 temporary workers from the local community were employed and trained to install the products correctly, ensuring the facility is of the highest standard. The project manager and the quality assurance manager appointed to the project monitored the safety of labourers, who were provided with personal protective equipment when on site, to ensure their safety was not compromised.

The Sonwabo Primary School in Gugulethu is one of three projects in South Africa that Saint-Gobain funded in 2015, as part of their local 350 anniversary celebration initiatives.

The Mvelaphanda Primary School on Tembisa received a new ablution facility and the Inyonemhlophe Secondary School in Isipingo in KZN has a new kitchen.

“We had incredible support from local partners, and are most grateful to BUCO, Andersons, MPR Foundation, SPAR Build-it and Imports International Limited for their generous contributions towards this project,” said David Anderson, General Delegate - Sub-Saharan Africa Delegation, Saint-Gobain.