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The Rössing Foundation
The Rössing Foundation was established in 1978 by Rössing Uranium Limited through a Deed of Trust to implement and facilitate its corporate social responsibility activities within the communities of Namibia.
The current Board of Trustees consists of Rehabeam Hoveka (Chairman), Job Tjiho (Director), Anne Thandeka Gebhardt, Eliakim Prince Shiimi, Mike Leech, Tom Alweendo, Samuel Nuuyoma, Twapewomaano Kadhikwa, Willem van Rooyen, and Ruth Cloete (Secretary).
The Foundation undertakes a number of activities across a broad spectrum of community development areas. These include local authority support to the town of Arandis, education, health, poverty alleviation, innovation, the environment, and enterprise development. To achieve these corporate social responsibility drives, activities are implemented in collaboration with critical partners such as the Ministry of Education; the Erongo Regional Council; the Ministry of Mines and Energy; the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry; the Ministry of Environment and Tourism; the US Peace Corps; Voluntary Services Overseas; the University of Namibia; and the Arandis Town Council.
Education
The Rössing Foundation strategy and input to education rests on a learner-centred educational approach. This is in line with the Ministry of Education’s policy, as reflected in the Curriculum for Basic Education. This approach is used to facilitate the learning and teaching process, in preparation for a knowledge-based society.
The Foundation’s aim is to improve the quality of teaching and learning through effective teachers in English as the foundation of education, as well as through the development of skills in reading, Mathematics, Science, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
At the Ministry of Education’s request, the Foundation supports the implementation of the Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP), as envisaged in the achievement of Namibia’s 30-year development plan known as Vision 2030. By assisting with implementing ETSIP, the Rössing Foundation also indirectly addresses the needs of local industry, in that high-school graduates qualify for employment, or enter tertiary education and training institutions. In 2008, 25 per cent of Grade 12 graduates from the Kolin Foundation Secondary School in Arandis qualified for access to tertiary institutions.
As part of its strategic focus, the Foundation established three Educational Centres in Arandis, Swakopmund and Ondangwa. These centres focus on the effective teaching and learning of English, the development of skills in Mathematics, Science, Libraries, and ICT. During 2008, the centres provided 9,798 learners with educational subjectrelated opportunities.
The Foundation’s Whole School Development Programme consists of the following interventions:
- a school-based teacher support programme;
- project partnerships with the Oshana and Erongo Education Regions were signed and maintained through Steering Groups;
- ten school communities in two Regions were supported in capacity-building in the field of school governance;
- 23 school principals were given the opportunity to improve their school management skills through a twoyear diploma in education offered by the University of Johannesburg;
- 95 teachers were directly supported by the tutor interventions at the ten partner schools;
- after-school development opportunities in Mathematics, Science, Reading, English and ICT reached 5,201 girls and 4,597 boys; and
- scholarships were given to 38 people through the Kolin Fund managed by the Foundation.
Knowledge and innovation: The Arandis Sustainable Development
Project The town of Arandis, which is located 60km from Swakopmund on the main road to Windhoek, was established in the early 1970s as family accommodation for mine employees. In 1992, Arandis was handed over to the Namibian Government and is currently managed by the Arandis Town Council. At the end of 2005, when the latest demographic survey was done, Arandis had 4,500 residents.
Arandis is still, to a significant degree, economically dependent on the benefits flowing into its economy from Rössing’s mining activities. Planning for the long-term sustainability of the community invariably needs to take cognisance of the inevitable closure of the mine sometime in the future, and the associated economic consequences for Arandis and its residents.
It was clear, therefore, that the town’s economy needed to become diversified as soon as possible. As a point of departure, a baseline study was commissioned in 2005 to evaluate the town’s sustainability. A sustainable livelihood approach was adopted as a result of the study, which also recommended interventions in infrastructure development, human capital development, improved governance and service delivery, and investment.
The Rössing Foundation and the mine assist the Arandis Town Council in their bid for socio-economic independence by addressing six key areas, namely:
- Health;
- Education;
- Technical Services;
- Corporate Services, including Local Economic Development;
- Community and Sustainable Development; and
- Finance.
The Arandis Sustainability Development Project (ASDP) was established to ensure the transformation from singular economic reliance on the mining sector to a diversified socio-economic base. The current Project Management Team is made up of the Arandis Town Council, Rössing, and Rössing Foundation representatives.
In 2008 the ASDP achieved the following milestones:
- Water management: Africon, a Windhoek-based engineering company, was contracted in June 2008 to replace the town’s fresh-water reticulation system. All auxiliary work on the main sewerage plant has been completed, with work pending for 2009 on the dry beds, grey-water recovery and supply lines.
- Community service facilities: A Namibian bank, Bank Windhoek, opened a branch in Arandis.
- Town planning: The subdivision of the remainder of the Arandis town lands into industrial and residential developments was completed, with the Council opting to sell the majority of the plots as unserviced in order to speed up development of the area and to minimise costs to the Council.
- Local economic development: Stakeholder engagement meetings were conducted and informed the process of finalising the Turnaround Strategy, which will complement the Council’s town planning initiative.
- Road to financial independence: In 2008, more than 60% of revenue recovery was recovered.
- Liaison officer: Approval was obtained to add this post to the staffing structure of the Arandis Town Council. Provision has also been made for it in the budget from the 2009–2010 financial year onwards.
- Mining Museum: A feasibility study with related site identification was completed in May 2008, and the project is proceeding with the involvement of a local architect.
- Finalisation of the high-level ASDP Strategic Plan: In March 2008, the Strategic Plan was completed and subcommittee project leaders were assigned to the six key development focus areas.
- Leadership capacity-building: One of the critical areas in the sustainability of Arandis is to ensure that the town has competent staff to run its affairs efficiently and effectively. Thus the ASDP embarked upon a leadership development programme, which nine managers and supervisors successfully completed.
- Youth skills development: This initiative commenced as a result of a youth skills assessment undertaken in 2007. A total of 31 young people were trained and became skilled in various vocational fields. Most of them became small-scale entrepreneurs or were employed.
- Sport and recreation: Seven sport codes are supported, with a total membership of 197. Events such as the Arandis Sport Weekend have improved the community’s social cohesion.
- Peer Educator Programme: The Arandis “Free to Grow” Peer Educator Programme was launched and implemented. Fourteen peer educators from the community were trained and accredited to facilitate the programme. They in turn trained a total of 533 community members in life skills and financial literacy, as well as addressing changes in attitude and lack of ownership among residents.
Poverty alleviation
The Rössing Foundation approach is to promote the advancement of the living standards of all the people in Namibia by supporting small-scale miners’ initiatives, the Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Programme, small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), as well as agriculture projects, in order to significantly contribute towards an increase in household income.
In joint efforts with other stakeholders, the Foundation engages in mobilising rural communities through strengthening their skills and knowledge, building institutional capacity, developing products, adding value, and marketing.
Agriculture development
The Rössing Foundation, through the ASDP, explored desert agricultural initiatives and commenced piloting vegetable production by using a simplified hydroponic method that is tailored to suit the Arandis situation.
The hydroponic method enables vegetable production with minimal water loss through leaching and evaporation.
This initiative aims to promote intensive agriculture in Arandis in order to create employment, reduce poverty and improve health and nutrition.
There is a cross-fertilisation between community development and formal education programmes as the garden is also being used for science practicals by the local schools’ teachers and learners.
Furthermore, the Rössing Foundation promotes agricultural development in the Topnaar community resident in the Kuiseb River area near Walvis Bay. The aim of this initiative is to contribute towards poverty reduction through facilitating the development of viable agricultural projects such as gardening and livestock improvement.
Small- and medium enterprise development
The Arandis small and medium entrepreneurs’ target of 20 units was exceeded by 27, which resulted in supporting and mentoring 47 entrepreneurs through a Windhoekbased consultancy, SME Compete.
Small-scale miners in the Erongo Region
The Small-scale Miners’ Stakeholders Forum, which consists of representatives from Rössing, Basil Read, Major Drilling, Navachab Mine, the Rössing Foundation, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and the Erongo Regional Council, continued supporting the Erongo Regional Smallscale Miners’ Association in strengthening its leadership and building capacity among its members through training workshops.
Community-based Natural Resource Management
The Foundation continued its support of the eight conservancies in the Erongo and the north-central Regions. Five communities in the Erongo Region were supported in various ways, especially in capacity-building. Nine craft enterprise groups in the Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana and Oshikoto Regions were supported by the Foundation, generated an income of N$266,350.
Health
As part of the broader work within the Erongo Region, and with due regard to the cumulative impact of the current and upcoming uranium mines in the Region, the Foundation joined hands with the Arandis Town Council to lobby the Government and private health institutions to establish health facilities in the town. The Ministry of Health and Social Services was also lobbied to appoint a social worker to render services to the town’s residents. The Foundation supports health interventions by working closely with institutions specialising in health and social issues, including HIV and AIDS, orphans and other vulnerable children, and primary health care. These institutions are the Namibian Parenthood Association, the District AIDS Committee, and Catholic Aids Action.
Shirley Gawanas, an empowered community member of Arandis, tends to her flourishing crop of oyster mushrooms that are being grown indoors under specially controlled conditions. This project forms part of the Rössing Foundation’s initiatives to develop skills and assist with sustainable development within the Arandis community.
Empowered community members tend to their hydroponic vegetable garden, which is part of Rössing Foundation’s initiatives in Arandis.
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