Johannesburg, South Africa – Sasol has donated mobile clinics, vaccine carriers, specialised medical refrigerators and freezers, and temperature loggers to the provincial departments of health in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Free State to support the rollout of vaccines in its host provinces. 

“In order to deliver on our community health focus area, and solidify our social partner status, we recognise the need to support Government’s vaccination rollout strategy by donating essential equipment and resources,” said Simon Baloyi, Sasol Senior Vice President: Regional Operations and Asset Services.

As a responsible social partner, Sasol has been supporting the different spheres of society since the outbreak of the pandemic through its shared-value approach. This approach is underscored by its commitment to ensuring the health and safety of its employees, their families and those who live in its fenceline communities. 

Recognising the challenge posed by the vastness of the South African landscape in enabling access to vaccines, Baloyi said Sasol decided to fast track its plans to donate equipment such as laptops, mobile clinics, and World Health Organisation-approved medical fridges, vaccine carriers, and temperature loggers to enable a much broader reach of government’s community vaccination drive. 

“Our purpose as Sasol is to innovate for a better world. In line with that, our social impact approach aims to deliver effective and relevant interventions that enable the creation of partner leveraged social value,” said Baloyi.

Since the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic in March last year, Sasol has: 

• produced and donated more than 1,6 million litres of alcohol-based sanitiser to frontline workers in hospitals, clinics, communities, as well as local and national government. These were distributed by its partners Stellar Transport, Reef Tankers, Imperial Logistics and Super Group Freight; 
• donated over 12 000 masks, 36 000 pairs of gloves and 5 000 safety suits and overalls towards frontline response efforts in its fenceline communities;
• converted a number of its buildings into quarantine centres for employees and their families; 
• transformed its mobile science laboratories, usually used for school education programmes, into COVID-19 screening and testing units; 
• donated a million litres of jet fuel to the Department of international Relations and Cooperation for the repatriation of South Africans stranded abroad; and 
• fast tracked the manufacturing of its own hand-sanitisers for use at its own operations, immediate fenceline communities in Mpumalanga and Free State. This product was also distributed to employees of strategic partners.   

In addition to the above, Sasol on Thursday, 09 September, will also handover a Mobile Science Laboratory and an e-Learning support programme to the Mpumalanga Department of Education to help address the challenge of poor access to technology especially for learners in rural and peri-urban areas.

“Our COVID-19 response has been multi-layered, consultative and collaborative to support efforts to flatten the curve with particular focus on our fenceline communities within Mpumalanga, Free State, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal,” Baloyi said.