The KZN Sands sustainable development team has come up with an innovative way to ensure people in their rural communities are given a fair start.

As part of its sustainable development strategy, KZN Sands has built a crèche in the Somopho area, outside EmeMpangeni. The crèche is manned by qualified educators who use a variety of games and building exercises to teach their young pupils essential coordination skills. Interestingly, coordination has proven to be the main reason why many applicants from rural communities fail to qualify for learnerships at KZN Sands: they fail the basic hand/eye coordination test.

Through the new crèche, KZN Sands aims to build a solid educational foundation so that future generations don’t have to suffer the same fate. Later in the year, and as part of Arbor Week, trees were planted in the crèche grounds.

The 40 registered learners at the crèche range from a few months to four years. Older groups are taught the official grade R syllabus. Currently registered as a non-profit organisation, the crèche will become a formal pre-school by 2010.