"The Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: Realising Women's Rights"; was the national theme for this year's Women's Month. As a result, Nissan South Africa (NSA) emphasised the company's investment in encouraging diversity and inclusion by giving women's voices and their technical skills more prominence across different areas of the organisation – this further demonstrated women's human right to be heard. Additionally, NSA supported a number of humanitarian initiatives in August, further playing an important developmental role in South African communities.
#NissanWomen donated their time to the City of Tshwane and Habitat for Humanity's Women's Build Program, where they assisted in the construction of three new houses. The team represented Nissan's long-term project called Nissanda – short for Nissan Development Area. By the end of August, the organisations hope to have helped three women and families from low-income backgrounds become first-time homeowners.
Evanie Vather, general manager of Nissan's Africa Corporate Planning, spoke at the construction site.
"We believe that people deserve a place to call home because having a home offers a sense of self-worth, ownership, and value – a place where they can always feel at peace, a place where they can feel safe and at home," said Vather. "Nissan is committed to assisting in this endeavour."
Though August is often a month to celebrate women's accomplishments, for NSA August was also an opportunity to highlight the unpaved road for women's equality and shine more light toward Nissan's plans to create a gender-equal society.
"Being a good corporate citizen and supporting the communities in which we operate is important to who we are as a business," said Vather. "As such, our global and local efforts in corporate social investment will continue to grow our communities and foster an environment of zero inequality for as long as we stand as an entity."
Rebecca Maatli and Tebogo Anna Kgosi are two of the Women's Build initiative's success stories. Both women are now first-time homeowners.
"Thanks to Habitat for Humanity, City of Tshwane and Nissan South Africa for making us homeowners. Having a legacy to leave for my children, makes all the difference," said Kgosi. "Knowing that I also played a part in building our new family home gives it more meaning. I am grateful to the women who dedicated their time to building our first home."
