On Wednesday 16 August 2023, the ASLA Foundation officially handed over the extension of the Cape Agulhas Safe Haven to Heavenly Promise48, the NPO managing the facility. The original construction of this community facility was funded and undertaken by ASLA Construction in 2015. The initiative was impelled by the tragic death of Anene Booysen, who had been gang-raped and assaulted close to the community housing being constructed by ASLA.
The expansion project, which commenced in 2022, was motivated by the ever-increasing requirement for spaces of safety for abused women and their dependents. The project forms part of a continued focus by the ASLA Foundation (the social impact investment arm of the Western-Cape based ASLA Group and an NPO), on developing community-benefiting projects. “The Foundation would like to facilitate the implementation and construction of more essential facilities such as school infrastructure, libraries and places of safety such as the Cape Agulhas Safe Haven,” says the foundation’s administrator Mervin Green. “Our intention is to use this facility as a benchmark, as there are many opportunities to construct social infrastructure within the poorer communities across ASLA’s geographic areas of operation.”
The Cape Agulhas Safe Haven extension includes a 12-sleeper dormitory, two bathrooms, an office, and a counselling room. The facility was fully furnished, and the stoep area enclosed to allow for more privacy for the temporary residents. The kitchen has doubled in size and been fitted and furnished to catering standards, to enable Heavenly Promise48 to provide meals to hundreds of people in the local informal settlement. Meals are prepared on Monday’s using groceries donated by the local Checkers supermarket, and on Friday’s meal packs are handed to residents, to prepare at home. “Our communities need more facilities like this one, where we are able to offer victims of abuse some safety, reprieve, comfort, counselling and advice while they are finding their feet again,” says Lana O’Neill from Heavenly Promise48.
This extension project was made possible through generous support and funding by the National Lotteries Commission, ASLA Construction, ASLA DEVCO, Moov Fuel, Much Asphalt, Sizabantu Piping Systems and the Kwikamva Group. “We are incredibly grateful to all contributors for their support,” says Green. “Partnerships with like-minded organisations enable meaningful social investment, and without them we would not have been able to make this essential upgrade and extension happen.”
For more information on how to partner with the ASLA Foundation, contact Mervin Green admin@aslafoundation.co.za or 082 990 0287.
The ASLA Foundation
The foundation was registered in 2021, and is the social impact investment arm of the Western-Cape based ASLA Group. Its formation was driven by the vision to scale up the social investment projects beyond the ASLA Group’s skills and financial resources, and to contribute towards the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG’s) as well as the South African National Development Plan (NDP), whilst leveraging the concept of asset-based community led development (ABCD) as a methodology for sustainable development.
Vision: Self-sustaining communities made possible through innovative infrastructure and skills development
Mission: To pioneer collaborative partnerships that deliver integrated infrastructure, resources and skills for sustainable community development.
