DHV stresses the importance of community development
Mr Heemskerk, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade, successfully opened the “Plakkies” factory in Durban’s townships yesterday, 12 May. “Plakkies” is the South African word for flip-flops. Dutch students from Delft University of Technology in collaboration with the KidsRights foundation set up this unique, socially- and environmentally-responsible flip-flop factory. The factory will produce the flip-flops using old car tires and will provide 70 people with jobs. DHV is one of the project’s main sponsors and organized the opening together with its South African subsidiary SSI.
Mr Heemskerk said during the opening that “this initiative not only creates job opportunities for under-privileged inhabitants of the townships, but it is also promotes sustainability through the recycling of car tires that would otherwise be dumped and illegally burnt in large quantities.”
The flip-flop factory creates structural employment opportunities and provides the workers and their families with better prospects for a future. DHV President Bertrand van Ee says: "We are a people company which is dedicated to people, and we stress the importance of community development. This is the new shape of development cooperation.”
In addition to initiatives such as this and the four Saturday schools for under-privileged children (in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Pietermaritzburg, and Durban), capacity building is also a structural component of DHV’s projects in South Africa. Talented students are trained by experienced SSI engineers and consultants to give them a better chance of gaining entrance to university and winning a scholarship. "We are very proud of our staff members who help others through individual and company initiatives,” says Mr Van Ee.
Today, 13 May, the Plakkies will be launched in Amsterdam’s Dam square during a special event – they will thereafter be available in stores in the Netherlands. The profits will go to supporting KidsRights' projects for orphan children in South Africa. The colorful patterns on the flip-flops come from drawings made by orphans who live in the townships around Durban. Shoe-designer Jan Jansen and students from the faculty of Industrial Design at Delft University of Technology were responsible for the design.