The Liberty Community Trust ("LCT" or "the Trust") aims to improve the learning outcomes of young people in South Africa by investing in education initiatives that enable sustainable economic inclusion.
The Trust was established as part of Liberty's BEE deal in 2004. The Trust was funded by preference shares ("Prefs") issued to Liberty, the proceeds of which were used to buy Liberty shares. The Trust owns 5,159,229 Liberty shares, representing a 1.8% shareholding in Liberty.
The Trust focuses on Education and within this sector pursues three strategic priorities:
- Career development;
- Foundation phase literacy;
- Enhanced school leadership and governance at primary schools.
In line with the focus areas, the trust supports programmes that address the development of education; enhance learning activities, teacher development, curriculum support, and/or school governance across a variety of stakeholders from government, to shareholders, to communities and more.
Our Partnerships
The Trust prefers working with established non-profit organisations operating in the three strategic focus areas, to achieve significant and enduring social impact. The Trust does not respond to unsolicited requests for funding from the public and non-profit organisations.
Our Funding Ethos
As an independent entity, with an entrenched developmental approach, the unique culture of LCT is influenced by its guiding principles. These include:
- Visual, measurable impact: Funded initiatives must produce tangible results that contribute towards the development priorities of the Trust.
- Additionality: Funded initiatives must have strong additionality. This means, the initiative would need to exist, without the Trust’s involvement;
- Scalability: Funded initiatives must provide an opportunity to extend reach and scale of impact to new communities and new geographies within South Africa.
- Pioneering: Funded initiatives should indicate the Trust’s willingness to be a first mover, do something different, and to enter unfamiliar territory as a pioneer.
- Innovation: Funded initiatives should be creative and push boundaries. Funded initiatives must present new approaches, new models, new partnerships and new technologies that augment and sustain impact.
Board of Trustees
Sarah Rennie
Trustee
A lawyer by profession, Sarah worked in the United Kingdom as a solicitor for six years. After returning to South Africa in the early 2000's, she worked at Tshikululu Social Investments in a variety of roles. Rising through the ranks to the position of Chief Operating Officer. One of Sarah's portfolios was the Anglo American Chairman's Fund. Sarah is a trustee of the Anglo American Namibia Foundation and the Grinrod Family Trust and also chairs the Independent Philanthropy Association of South Africa.
Vusani Malie
Trustee
Vusani is the Chief Executive Officer of Sishen Iron Ore Company Community Development Trust (SIOC-cdt), prior to this appointment he served as a non-executive Trustee. He is an admitted attorney, having served legal articles and practised law at Cheadle Thompson & Haysom Attorneys, specialising in commercial law. Vusani has previously served as Company Secretary at Kumba Iron Ore Limited where he gained expertise in corporate governance, administration and business integrity as Kumba’s head of ethics. He has previously held the positions of Corporate Services Manager at AVI Limited, Group Company Secretary at Santam Limited as well as legal advisor at various Liberty Life Limited business units. Vusani also serves on a number of company boards where SIOC-cdt is a shareholder.
Linda Mateza
Trustee
Linda Mateza has more than 20 years' experience in the governance and management of pension fund investments. Among the senior executive roles that she has held, Linda was the Chief Executive and Principal Officer of the Eskom Pension & Provident Fund (EPPF), before joining the Liberty Group in 2021. She serves as a trustee on the Liberty Corporate Selection Umbrella Funds, and is a director of Yala Consultants and Actuaries. In 2023, Linda was awarded a Certificate in Company Direction by the Council of the Institute of Directors (IoD).
Riaz Gardee
Trustee
A chartered accountant by profession, Riaz has over two decades of local and international corporate finance experience. He has successfully led significant M&A transactions with the Liberty Group, as well as managed and evaluated Group investments. Riaz also serves as a representative on various industry committees, including SAICA (South African Institute of Chartered Accountants) and ASISA (Association for Savings and Investments South Africa). ASISA oversees investment funds exceeding R700m, supporting SME's achieve growth and create jobs.
Contact Details
Our projects
The Trust has embarked on a number of projects, and the details of our main projects can be found by clicking on the cards below:
Yizani Sifunde Literacy project
This project is aimed at addressing the literacy problems in the Eastern Cape.
Penreach
This project delivers a comprehensive school leadership intervention for 124 primary schools.
Conn3cted
Conn3cted is an app developed by Nexillient to help students plan their next career move.