“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”

LegalWise has long been striving towards being a good corporate citizen and fulfilling our responsibilities to the communities within which we operate and from which we draw our employees.  We do this through investing in social responsibility projects which have the capacity to become self-sustaining.  We actively encourage our staff members and branches to become involved in the communities that they serve.

Here are some of the social responsibility projects we have invested in:

“Real LegalWise” Soccer Tournaments

LegalWise hosted the first “Real LegalWise” Soccer Tournament in Orlando, Soweto in December 2008.  16 teams from different wards of the community played one another over a period of 5 days.  The tournament was a great success and enjoyed huge support from the community.  LegalWise believes in investing in disadvantaged groups, communities and individuals that have a strong desire towards transformation through soccer.  Further “Real LegalWise” soccer tournaments and other soccer sponsorships are planned for the future.

Ambassadors in Sport (AIS)

AIS is a non profit organisation that believes in bringing hope through soccer.  AIS and LegalWise have formed a partnership to develop a dedicated LegalWise Hope Academy in Soweto.  The academy will be a community based soccer school of excellence that trains young soccer players not only in soccer skills, but also through life skills and educational programmes.  The goal is to develop young people physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. 

Payroll Giving

LegalWise participates in an initiative which enables employees to donate money directly from their salaries to recognised charities.  This is called “Payroll Giving”, which is a worldwide trend that has achieved noteworthy success in other countries.

Through Payroll Giving, a voluntary, agreed amount is deducted from an employee’s salary on a monthly basis and paid directly to the South African Children’s Charity Trust (SACCT). 
LegalWise has promised its employees that it will match each donation that an employee makes, rand for rand.  

The beneficiaries are:

1. CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation
2. The South African Red Cross Society
3. Cotlands
4. The Reach for a Dream Foundation
5. The Ithemba Trust

Siyabonga Africa

LegalWise invested in 5 mini bakeries for underprivileged people via Siyabonga Africa:

• Benita and Elizabeth – aspiring entrepreneurs
• Mr Daniel Skhosana – aspiring entrepreneur
• Usindiso – shelter for abused women and children
• Together Action Group – alleviating crime and drug related problems in schools
• Thandanani House of Refuge – shelter for neglected, abused, abandoned and orphaned young children.

Environmental Commitment

LegalWise is going green – plans are in place to educate our staff on environmental issues and implement recycling at all branches.  Various clean-up initiatives are planned, involving communities, members and employees.

Branch Projects

All branches are encouraged to become involved in sustainable development in their communities.  Some of these projects include:

Bellville - Ruiterwacht Senior Centre
LegalWise invested in a biscuit bakery, canning kitchen and sewing classes at the centre, which provides a sustainable support base to the underprivileged elderly in the community.  

Bloemfontein - Siyabonga Bakery at Lebone House
8 of Lebone’s staff members and volunteers were trained by Siyabonga to run a profitable bakery.  The project has been very successful for generating funds to add to the self sustainability of the programme.    

Cape Town - St Anne’s Home and Place of Safety
LegalWise funded the appointment of a training coordinator for the Skills Training Centre to teach underprivileged women the necessary skills to enable them to earn an income once they leave the home.    

Durban - Wiggins (Unkhumbane) Primary School
LegalWise invested in a sewing and design department, aimed at underprivileged senior learners who showed a potential for practical and design work. 

East London - Siyabonga Bakery at Living Waters
LegalWise invested in a Siyabonga Bakery at the Living Waters Centre.  The programme has empowered 10 vulnerable people to provide an income and food for the centre. 

Empangeni - The Green Team Project
LegalWise invested in a team of school leavers, identified by Wildlands Conservation Trust, to provide them with training and tools to eradicate alien plants and plant indigenous trees for which they are compensated by National Parks.

Pretoria, Johannesburg and Randburg - TIQWA
LegalWise invested in the tunnel farming project to raise funds and equip underprivileged TIQWA learners with skills.

Welkom - Happy Villa Arts and Crafts project &  Siyabonga Bakery at Happy Villa Children’s Home
LegalWise invested in a beading project to generate an income for the home’s needs and later invested in a Siyabonga Bakery at the home to further boost income for the home.  This project has been extremely successful and the family have plans to expand the bakery. 

Witbank - Bethesda House of Hope
LegalWise invested in providing materials for a protective workshop where disabled persons are able to earn a salary by manufacturing products as approved by CSIR.

Sponsorships

EQUIP (Education Quality Improvement Partnerships) Programme
LegalWise sponsored a 3-year programme in 5 schools selected from the Diepsloot area, which included school audits, upgrading of teacher’s skills in maths and science, assisting with the development and implementation of the schools development plan and leadership and management training for principals and heads of department.

Community Sponsorship Programme
LegalWise offered Community Sponsorships to NPO’s at which our members are volunteers as follows: 

1. Eluxolweni Umtata Child Care Programme – education and accommodation for street children.
2. African Renaissance Dance & Drama Group – dance and drama training for impoverished children.
3. Home Street People’s Ministry – preventing crime amongst impoverished people.
4. Thokoza Crèche St Chads - home-based care for the sick.
5. Optako Arts - drama and visual arts classes in community.
6. Independent Council of Churches – feeding scheme for orphans and people living with Aids.
7. Twananani Women’s Club – bead work.
8. The Wielie-Walie Pre-school and Aftercare Centre - community based early childhood development.
9. The President’s Awards - youth empowerment programme.
10. The Red Cross Society – up-skilling young women and soccer against crime project.

University of Pretoria Chorale
LegalWise sponsored the African Renaissance Concert hosted and organized by the University of Pretoria Chorale at the Aula Theatre.

SuperSport Let’s Play 5-a-side soccer tournament
LegalWise has participated in this tournament for the past 2 years.  The initiative is aimed at encouraging regular physical activity among the youth of South Africa, keeping them out of drugs and crime.

Ambassadors in Sport Match for a Day

LegalWise is the principal sponsor of the 24 hour LegalWise Match for a Day soccer event, hosted by AIS.  The main purpose of this event is to raise funds to help support AIS in their outreach and development programs, which are based on coaching, educating and teaching value based skills to many future soccer stars and fanatics. 

This tournament not only gives other companies the chance to participate in a day with some of our great soccer stars, but also gives teams the chance to have a fun team building and networking experience whilst supporting a worthy cause. 

External Bursaries

Since 2005, LegalWise has been granting external bursaries for legal degrees or diplomas to its members.  Each year we go through the gruelling process of selecting deserving candidates from thousands of applications.  Bursary holders are offered employment at LegalWise during their June and December holidays and permanent employment with the company once they have successfully completed their degrees or diplomas.

The number and value of external bursaries awarded is dependent on availability of funds from year to year.   External bursaries are primarily awarded to cover tuition fees at registered tertiary institutions, such as universities, technikons and colleges.  Applications for external bursaries are advertised in the July issue of the WiseUp magazine.

Internal Bursaries

LegalWise supports the development and growth of all employees to reach their full potential and realise their career goals. In line with this principle, the Skills Development Act and the Employment Equity Act, LegalWise supports the education and development of all employees who want to develop themselves in the interest of the Company. In certain cases in-house development may not be adequate and LegalWise may require and encourage employees to study at external educational institutions in order to acquire recognised degrees, diplomas or certificates. The cost of such approved courses will be viewed by LegalWise as a Staff Bursary.

Scholarships

Employees of LegalWise form an important part of the LegalWise community.  As part of our people development strategy, LegalWise provides financial support for the education of selected children of LegalWise employees.  LegalWise awards scholarships in line with budget and in accordance with specified criteria on an annual basis to financially dependant children or adopted children of LegalWise employees.  The scholarship must be utilised by the employee for payment of school/tertiary institution fees, school uniforms and text books.