BOC Social Commitments
The Sizanani Mentorship Programme assists over 300 learners from Alexandra township who benefit from extra tuition classes at St Mary’s School (Ikusasa Lethu). Sizanani provides them with mentors (successful professionals) who play a crucial role in building the self-esteem of those learners and providing them with information, counselling, motivation, communication skills or study tips.
Florence Javoy – Head of RATP Group Foundation, Jabulani Khumalo,
Arnaud Legrand – Former BOC CEO.
A number of Bombela Operating Company employees have signed up as mentors. Our role is to counsel these young people, whether they are at school or college, and help them reach their professional goals. We also try to widen their horizons by organizing cultural outings, and by giving them access to various technology tools.
By conducting our business in collaboration with surrounding communities and to the benefit of our stakeholders, we create the conditions for engaged talent, constant innovation, and efficient services that shape transportation. This is how we move forward, responsibly.
Skills Transfer
The Sizanani Mentorship Program was born in 2007 on the initiative of RATP Dev and its subsidiary, Bombela Operating Company (BOC), under RATP Foundation Group. Our mentors are South African and foreign professionals who coach Grade 10, 11 or 12 learners from Alexandra township. Learners and mentees are part of the “Ikusasa Lethu project”, managed by St Mary’s School (Waverley) which offers Saturday classes in five subjects to top learners of Alexandra high schools.
In 2016, 85 mentors – from South Africa, France and other countries – took care of 131 mentees. Mentors play a crucial role by providing mentees with career information, counselling, motivation, communication skills and study tips.
Between 2013 and 2018, bursaries amounting over R500 000 were made available by the Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles (Belgium), the RATP Foundation (France), Bombela Operating Company and a few other sponsors. The funding, which benefited 30 students in 2018, is managed by Monique Adams, director of Career Wise.
Responsible Corporate Citizenship
As a player in all types of mobility transportation, we are acutely aware of its role in communities. In this light, we combat the waste of resources through recycling, promoting energy-efficient driving habits, and recovering water waste generated from cleaning vehicles.
We work very hard to provide an alternative or complementary solution to private vehicles. We are thus committed to rolling out and operating accessible transportation systems for the benefit of passengers, in order to make public transport a deliberate choice, not just an option.
We are also committed to integrating transportation infrastructure into the urban framework. Expanding and modernizing routes underpins the advancement of current and future cities, leading to cities that are designed with intermodal transportation in mind so that people can move about freely.
Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Development
BOC believes that empowering SMEs is key to addressing the challenges of job creation and sustainable economic growth in South Africa.
BOC is proud to work with select partners within the local taxi industry to assist in fostering the highest transportation standards to effectively complement the bus and midibus function of the Gautrain system.
This is done by proactively hosting training sessions for taxi drivers to showcase the many benefits of providing safe and efficient services for commuters.