Black empowered mining company, Exxaro Resources, recently partnered with Dis-Chem to vaccinate its employees, contractors, and their next of kin at the Exxaro head office, the conneXXion.

As at 15 October - the partnership began in August 2021 and has seen over 570 people receive the vaccination through the partnership thus far.

General Manager - Safety and Health at Exxaro, Dr Joseph Matjila expressed his excitement to this partnership by saying that “to reach herd immunity has to do with partnerships, not just between business and government but between business and business. The health of our people and citizens, is a responsibility that sits on us all and not just our government health department.”

According to the Minerals Council South Africa (MCSA), 41% of mining employees are partially/fully vaccinated. As at 15 October, Exxaro has vaccinated 7667 employees and is aiming to reach herd immunity of 80% in support of the MCSA’s target to reach this milestone by November 2021. “Our partnership with Dis-Chem and the various Provincial Departments of Health where we have mining and renewable energy operations, is our continued effort to protect our employees and their families in line with our Zero Harm policy, which also ensures that we provide access to basic healthcare services,” adds Dr Matjila.

As part of Exxaro’s commitment to fighting Covid-19, its Occupational Health Centres at its Grootegeluk and Matla complexes have been accredited as vaccination sites and it has established partnerships with the provincial health administrations in Limpopo and Mpumalanga to assist in accelerating vaccination uptake.