Century Trust - Century Property Developments

Helping build a better life, filled with an abundance of hope, prosperity and optimism.

Century Property Developments is a family-owned business that produces upmarket lifestyle offerings with a strong emphasis on healthy living within a superlative quality of life. This awareness of the fortunate communities that reside in our developments have shed light on the public that is not as privileged.

Century has taken specific cognisance of the community in which it operates, recognising that there are limited opportunities for many who live in the area surrounding the company’s offices. Our decision to establish a youth programme in Diepsloot led to the realisation that once the youngsters matriculated, there wasn’t much on offer for them in the surrounding area in terms of jobs. This led to the creation of the Riversands Incubation Hub which, due to its enormous scale, has the potential to be a game-changer in terms of job creation.

In light of this, a successful public/private partnership has been formed with the South African Jobs Fund. This project as well as the others documented in this book aim to give hope to our local communities. It bears testament to our commitment to continue working towards a better life for those around us.

“Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronisingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” – Nelson Mandela

The Diepsloot Youth Programme

The Diepsloot township has an estimated population of 350 000 with a mixture of informal and formal settlements. Although Century Property Developments had been doing great community work in the township for some years with the formalisation of the Diepsloot Youth Programme (DYP) in 2012, the company incorporated other corporates and spearheaded the DYP with the registration of an official non-profit organisation. DYP works with the SAPS in Diepsloot and other key role players to bring about change in the community.

Young people, specially trained and known as “facilitators” now go into the communities and schools, developing skills and empowering youth to improve their lives, embrace education, believe in themselves and reduce drug abuse in both adults and children. Since the inception of the project, the team of facilitators has branched out into other areas where they saw that the youth needed assistance. Examples of these interventions include maths coaching and homework clubs designed to improve the maths and science marks in local schools. The team has a number of other activities and events which they initiate to bring about change in communities and develop the society as a whole.

The Diepsloot Youth Programme’s vision is to develop the youth to be responsible adults and to grow their talent into careers; to help the community live in a better environment, that they have created and is safe for all. Their core mission is: providing for community development and social change, to bring about a brighter future. The Diepsloot Youth Programme has six full time employees who were sourced from the SAPS youth desk. They work in the schools with the learners, guiding them on morals, drugs, extra homework clubs, maths programmes and tree planting programmes, holiday programmes with the City Library (including Sports Against Crime and a Learning festival). There are also soccer teams and netball teams which have been formed and sponsored in conjunction with other companies.

Century Property Developments is a key sponsor and partner for this initiative. Their focus lies in social reform and community upliftment programmes and they have worked with different schools around Diepsloot and other community groups and forums.

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Riversands Incubation Hub

The Riversands Incubation Hub is Century Property Developments’ primary Corporate Social Investment initiative. The facility is a custom-designed and -built small business incubation centre which is set to uplift socio-economic conditions, especially in nearby Diepsloot. This Hub is co-funded by Century Property Developments and The Jobs Fund with a man-date to create jobs in the surrounding areas. Both established and start-up small and micro enterprises (SMEs) are housed in the Riversands Incubation Hub for a period of up to three years at the subsidised rental. During this time the entrepreneurs are eligible to receive training and mentorship according to each business’s particular needs. The backbone of the Hub is the extensive learning centre integrated within the facility including two 100-seater lecture halls, a 500-seat auditorium, fully equipped training workshops, meeting rooms, hot desks and a full restaurant. For SMEs, there are 150 mini-factories, retail and office spaces as well as a 7,000-seat amphitheatre. The Riversands team puts SMEs at the heart of everything it does, always with the goal of helping individual businesses to grow and thrive. Structures within the Riversands team provide practical and technical training to businesses both on the campus and from the surrounding areas, an SME Back Office service provides administration help at considerably reduced prices to what is available in the market. Regular networking events help businesses gain additional knowledge as well as give the opportunity to meet with other entrepreneurs on the programmes at Riversands. Perhaps most importantly, the structure of the premises offering makes it easy for businesses to respond to changing circumstances by not requiring collateral, by enabling businesses to move to a bigger or smaller space if needs change and short-term lease agreements make it easier for businesses to take risks, maximise opportunities and turn any failure into a lesson on the way to success. Because of its location as the nucleus of the new mixed-use complex, the idea is for those tenants to have a rich source of small business suppliers on their doorstep. The incubation programme is ideal for corporates’ supplier development (SD) programmes. SD is a key element of the new B-BBEE codes. The scale of the development is such that the Riversands Incubation Hub is set to make a significant difference to the Diepsloot community, which is within walking distance of the facility. The Incubation programme is designed to grow businesses to become formal enterprises which create jobs. Individual entrepreneurs have access to the training and development that best suits their needs. Mentorship is a key element of the business support services offered at the Hub. The Riversands team has set up partnerships with various financial institutions to help smooth entrepreneurs’ access to finance. Several banks and development agencies have offices at the Hub to ensure that incubates have the best chance of a successful application for finance. On completion of the incubation programme, businesses will graduate as fully-functioning, viable businesses.