South Africa is still in a healing phase, and we strive to bridge the gap, providing previously disadvantaged entrepreneurs in the logistics industry with the tools to build their dreams. Skynet excels in bringing entrepreneurs into the market as owner-drivers or subcontractors, 70% of whom are previously disadvantaged.

We have outsourced many of our routes or ‘same-day’ collection services to small black-owned businesses, particularly in Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.

Now, over 100 owner-drivers/sub-contractors operate more than 200 vehicles and support over 340 employees as a trusted part of our network.As our partners, these individuals generate over R31m in annual income.

A severe skills gap hinders national development. We endeavour to enable our employees to be the best they can be through recognised training programmes, which in turn improves both our capability and increases our capacity

Driver Training 3% of Skynets’ total payroll is used in skills development for the previously disadvantaged, including driver training programmes.

Mentorship of Trainees We place priority on mentorship and management trainee skills programmes to better equip previously disadvantaged people with knowledge and skills.

Promoting Further Studies At least ten staff members in the past 12 years have enrolled at either universities or technicons, with the most preferred fields of study being the Management Development Programme and the Road Transport Diploma.

Peer Education A peer educator is an employee who has received specific training in a subject or discipline and is committed to helping his/her colleagues in their field of expertise. This has been particularly successful in the area of HIV/Aids awareness, where a large percentage of the workforce has completed this in-house training course.

Awareness is only the first step towards real change. One has to invest in order to see real growth. Each year we contribute to over 60 projects, institutions and organisations countrywide, with emphasis on health, poverty, education, childcare and disabilities (mental or physical).

About 25% of the CSI budget is distributed to prevent and combat HIV/Aids, of which the most notable beneficiary is the ‘Trucking Against Aids’ project of the National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight Industry. This project has introduced mobile Wellness Centres providing Aids awareness education, primary healthcare, treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), voluntary HIV counselling and testing, and condom distribution for all staff.

Two of our more recent CSI projects are the donation of R1m to UNISA to fund post-graduate study in the transport and logistics field and the adoption of ‘Dr Nelson R Mandela High School’ in a Township near Philippi, Cape Town.