Bophelong Stimulation Centre

A place of their own

A new facility designed to provide improved access and quality of care for disabled children, has opened in Balfour Town, Mpulmalanga Province, South Africa. The Bophelong Stimulation Centre is the first of its kind in the area, and it provides space for physical activities and respite care for parents and grandparents as well as teaching life skills to the children.

We’re pleased to have provided funding to the Bophelong Centre to improve its facility to extend care and protection to children with mental disabilities affected by poverty.

Our Vice President Corporate Affairs Africa Region, Dr Patience Mpofu, said she was proud of the collaborative partnership with the Department of Mineral Resources and the local municipality to launch the Centre.

"It is an illustration of how mining can contribute to South Africa's economic and social aspirations and how it provides a vehicle for driving shared value. By shared value, I mean identifying opportunities that create economic value, while also advancing the environmental and social outcomes of the communities and regions in which we operate," she said.

Deputy Minister of Department of Mineral Resources, Godfrey Oliphant, said the Centre is a great example of the benefits of working together, and getting behind the local community.

"There is no question here in Balfour that we have children with severe levels of disabilities that require care and love. As government we have an appreciation that such children will be unable to perform all self-care activities on their own and often will need daily supervision and close personal support. And, when not cared for, they will be invariably exposed to untold levels of discrimination and social exclusion on a daily basis."

"It is against this backdrop that as government we welcome the partnership between South32 and ourselves, because such endearing partnerships can be a window that demonstrates how public and private sectors are able to work together to get behind local communities," he said.