The Board and Executive team of Anglo American Platinum notes the call by President Cyril Ramaphosa to contribute to the national fight against the spread of COVID-19, and commend the personal financial commitments of the President, Deputy President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Premiers to donate a third of their salaries for the next three months to the national Solidarity Fund.
The Board and Executive Committee of Anglo American Platinum are fully supportive of this initiative. The non-executive directors have elected to contribute 30% of their fees for three months to charitable organisations that are aiding the pandemic relief effort.
The CEO and Finance Director will also donate 30% of their salaries for three months to charities associated with Anglo American Platinum’s relief efforts in its host communities.
The Executive team have elected to contribute to the employee matching scheme supported by the Anglo American Foundation, and many employees have been forthcoming in making contributions to charities of their choice.
The Anglo American Foundation has set up a global programme to match employees’ personal donations to a number of local and global organisations, including the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Response Solidarity Fund, national Red Cross societies and South Africa’s Solidarity Fund, up to an initial aggregate value of $1 million, giving a total matched value of $2 million.
In addition to this contribution, Anglo American Platinum continues to provide a wide range of essential services to its host communities in South Africa and Zimbabwe, offering additional assistance to alleviate the health and economic effects of COVID-19. In partnership with the University of Pretoria, Gift of the Givers and other stakeholders, the Company is: expanding water supply to communities that do not have access to water; supporting local clinics and hospitals with training and providing essential PPE and other equipment to assist them in responding to the pandemic; delivering food parcels to vulnerable families; and undertaking community awareness campaigns. These initiatives will benefit more than 100,000 households in our host communities.
Anglo American Platinum CEO, Natascha Viljoen, said: “On behalf of the Board and Executive team, we are proud to play our part in contributing to the many charitable organisations that are doing extraordinary work supporting the pandemic relief effort. We endeavour to assist these efforts, both as a Company as well as personally, helping others in this time of crisis. We will ensure that support is directed to those most in need and vulnerable at this time and provide both monetary and in-kind assistance as conditions in South Africa and Zimbabwe continue to evolve.
We will also ensure our people at work are safe and equipped to stay healthy and our business ready to support economic recovery. Thankfully, we are able to pay all employees their full fixed basic salaries, pension and medical benefits, as well as housing allowances where applicable, for the full 35 days of the lockdown period.”