Our CSR manager of the week is FRANCIS MANDAZA the Public Relations manager at City Parking.
He believes businesses are part of the socio-environmental matrix and therefore they should play a part in caring for the environment and communities where they operate in. To him, CSR is one sure way for businesses to show commitment to the society and the environment.
Awards
- He was awarded Top CSR Manager of the year 2021. This award was for raising awareness, building capacity, promoting the development and implementation of best Corporate Social Responsibility practices in the public and private sectors. At the same event, City Parking also won the Environmental Stewardship and Social Impact Award.
- He was also nominated by The Institute of Public Relations and Communication under Young PR Practitioner of the year category.
- City Parking won the Best Global Entity Management Award for using technology in new ways, ensuring efficiency at the workplace and in the environment and adapting to new circumstances, rules and conditions.
- City Parking was also a part of the ZIM TOP 100 SUSTAINABLE AND RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS AWARDS at the 5th Zimbabwe 2021 Top 100 Sustainable and Responsible Business Awards at the Rainbow Towers on the 26th of November 2021 hosted by Environmental Management Agency (EMA) together with the Corporate Social Responsibility Network Zimbabwe (CSRNZ)
- City Parking was nominated at the BEST BRANDS AWARDS and won the Leadership Excellence Award in the Outstanding Top Brands Category for demonstrated business excellence and the highest standards of ethical conduct, integrity and civic standards to the profession.
CSR initiatives
- In 2021 they worked on several CSR activities. Firstly, City Parking partnered with City of Harare as the mother body to support the First Lady initiative at Chambuta Children’s Home in Chiredzi. They contributed significantly to the renovations and furnishing of the Harare House at Chambuta, and are proud to have achieved this worthy feat.
Moreover, City Parking has continued to maintain the Julius Nyerere Way Road Island which they adopted for beautification in 2020.
The road is such a marvel and beauty to drive through, it has greatly improved the ambience of the city. This is part of their contribution to the urban renewal efforts as led by the city leadership.
Mr Mandaza says it is an ongoing project, and more is going to be done in 2022.
In 2021, the company also undertook to patch potholes in CBD roads and embarked on routine road and bay markings to improve the parking services and give the customer value for money.
In the third Quarter of the year, anticipating that with the rains coming, there could be flooded streets in the CBD owing to clogged drainage system normally caused by our uncouth urge to litter the city. It is the same waste that we throw around that find its way into the drainage system and blocks the water ways causing floods. City Parking deployed teams to unblock and clear the drainage system as part of their CSR efforts focused on the environment
Mr Mandaza fondly recalls his first encounter with CSR Network Executive Director in 2016/17 as they discussed possible areas of cooperation between the two entities. City parking management team attended the CSR Network 2021 Winter School in Kariba. They also went on to attend the CSR Annual Conference in Vic Falls. And he describes both experiences as “an eye opener as well as a learning curve.”
In his last remarks Mr Mandaza says “We see a lot of scope for cooperation and joint implementation of high impact and sustainable social and environmental projects in the near future. As we reflect the year 2021, the recognition the company received in the form of various awards, including CSR Awards and both corporate and individual levels, gives us hope and energy to do more for the communities that we work in and for the environment we operate in.”
