22 July 2010

- Siyakhana Project hailed as a remarkable partnership programme to combat and manage the effect of HIV and AIDS.

Pretoria - Mercedes-Benz South Africa (Pty) Ltd. (MBSA) has just been named the recipient of the 2010 International Business Award – the ‘Stevie’ Award - in the category ‘Corporate Social Responsibility Programme of the Year in the Middle East and Africa’.

“It is an honour to be internationally recognised for our company’s efforts in combating the spread of HIV and Aids. This type of recognition inspires us to continue our various programmes and to keep fighting this ‘battle’. We are thus encouraged to pursue innovative ways to assist not only our own employees and families, but the broader community. This way we help to build our collective future, our economy and our future business viability,” said Johann Evertse, MBSA vice-president responsible for human resources.

The Siyakhana project
The Siyakhana project is an international benchmark intervention in which MBSA, the Border-Kei Chamber of Business (BKCOB) and the German development agency, DEG, have established a private public partnership to provide participating small and medium-sized companies with HIV/AIDS awareness, counseling, testing, treatment and impact mitigation services. The MBSA investment in Siyakhana between 2006 and 2012 will total R11 million.

Sixty-five SMEs are supported by the project with over 7 500 employees trained on the basics of HIV/AIDS and TB, and 5 500 taking voluntary HIV tests at on-site VCT services. As at end-September the Siyakhana project was providing comprehensive HIV/AIDS care and treatment to 510 patients via private general practitioners. All health care costs are funded by PEPFAR in the USA.

The Siyakhana project has a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the Eastern Cape Department of Health, through which capacity building interventions, to improve quality of care are extended to 12 primary care clinics in Buffalo City.

The 2010 International Business Awards
Organisations and individuals from 28 nations, including first-time winners Israel, Kenya, and the Philippines, have been announced as Stevie® Award winners in the Seventh Annual International Business Awards, the world's only international, all-encompassing business awards programme. Honorees were selected from more than 1 700 entries from 40 countries. Nicknamed the ‘Stevies’ from the Greek word for 'crowned’, the awards will be presented at a ceremony in September in Istanbul, Turkey.