The long-term vision and expansion of a project in Colesberg, simultaneously focused on the upliftment of the people in this community and recycling, was made possible through the Wildlands and Gary Player Invitational (GPI) partnership.
CEO of Wildlands, Dr Andrew Venter and Strategic Manager Dave Moldenhauer introduced Gary and Vivienne Player to 8 (of 9) inspirational souls (Wildlands’ Waste-preneurs*) at the Spoornet Depot in Colesberg yesterday afternoon.
“Our partnership with the Gary Player Invitational, Coca-Cola and PETCO is transforming the lives of thousands of community members around the country,” said Wildlands’ CEO Dr Andrew Venter. “Through their support we’re progressively expanding our network of Waste-preneurs, improving lives whilst cleaning and greening the communities they live in. Our Colesberg expansion is driven explicitly by Gary and Vivienne Player who believe in this community. Their personal commitment and dedication is truly inspirational.”
“Having grown up very poor, I suffered a great deal and always knew that one day I would do something for people in the same position,” said Gary Player. “It’s an absolute thrill for me that the Player Foundation with Coca-Cola supports Wildlands who makes it their mission to uplift rural communities through job creation while preserving the natural environments that these communities operate in, such as here in Colesberg.”
Over R1.7 million of the funds donated by The Player Foundation to Wildlands in 2016 through Africa’s premier golf event, was allocated to recycling staffing and logistic costs in both Colesberg and eThekwini.
“The plan for 2017 is to grow and support our Waste-preneur network, with a specific focus on PET and can collection,” said Venter. “This also links in with the presenting sponsor of the Gary Player Invitational – Coca-Cola, as well as with PETCO, a national industry body responsible for the self-regulation of post-consumer PET recycling.”
Coca-Cola, long-time partner of the charitable golf tournament, is committed to giving back to communities and through the GPI initiatives, can demonstrate lasting, sustainable and positive change in the quality of life of communities.
PETCO recently supplied these 8 Colesberg based Waste-preneurs with 4 trollies that will help with the collection and transportation of waste. PETCO’s support for PET recycling efforts ensures an on-going monetary value for post-consumer PET bottles. This sustains collection interest and reduces the volume of post-consumer PET bottles in the waste stream.
“This small yet hard-working team of 9 Waste-preneurs in Colesberg, have been dealing with recycling from areas close to their homes as well as the surrounding communities,” said Wildlands’ Strategic Manager, Dave Moldenhauer. “We also partnered with the local municipality for a Tourism clean-up initiative in April this year. With that specific initiative, we attended to the following local attractions – the Mountain Bike Trail, Walking Trail – Oude Dam, Struggle Route – Trail, as well as the War Graves. The material from this initiative and the ongoing recycling efforts by our team resulted in 3092kg of waste which was then loaded and transported to Bloemfontein where it was sold. The funds received from the sale of this recyclable waste was split between the group. I have also enrolled the services of a local business consultant to assist with registering this team as a formal company. This will allow the team to be entered onto the central database for the province (via the office of the mayor) and therefore be eligible for training, development and possibly financial assistance from one of the government departments. I am inspired by the tenacity and hope shown by this group of Waste-preneurs in Colesberg. They are role models to this community and country.”
“Our commitment to Wildlands is stronger than ever,” said Mr Player. “It is so touching to see the people involved in the project and the amount of work being done. So much by so few. I’m hoping this will be a trend that will spread throughout South Africa to help keep our beautiful country try clean.”