South Africa’s favourite fuel brand*, Engen has committed to fuel the work of humanitarian disaster relief organization, Gift of the Givers to the tune of R2 million annually for the next three years.

Today’s cheque handover to Gift of the Givers was attended by Engen Chairman, Dato’ Sri Syed Zainal Abidin, Engen Managing Director and CEO, Yusa’ Hassan and members of its executive leadership team.  

Engen’s support of the Gift of the Givers is the latest in a series of multi-million-rand investment from the company towards humanitarian aid across South Africa in recent years.

“Given the challenging social context in South Africa, Engen is firmly committed to investing in

sustainable development initiatives that offer tangible value to the communities in which we operate,” says Engen Chairman, Dato Sri Syed Zainal Abidin.

“And given the wide reach and incredible national relief efforts of the Gift of the Givers’, Engen sees much value in this partnership” he adds.

One such occasion where Engen had previously collaborated with Gift of the Givers, was in March 2019 when the company heeded a call from the drought-stricken Makhanda community, after the town had been without water for much of the previous month.

“In line with our firm commitment to value creating social investment, and as a responsible corporate citizen, we have now partnered with Gift of the Givers to channel disaster management aid in the form of fuel funding,” says Engen CEO, Hassan.

Gift of the Givers quick response in the event of disasters, their wide reach, and the fact that the organisation offers humanitarian and unconditional relief influenced Engen’s investment.

“As such, we have committed fuel worth R2 million annually for a period of three years, with a view to extend the arrangement,” adds Hassan.

Gift of the Givers founder and chairman, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman says the enormous value of the fuel partnership became obvious considering that the organisation offers humanitarian relief in areas of South Africa as diverse as KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Limpopo, and the Northern and Western Cape.

“Already this month we have been in Alice in the Eastern Cape providing relief to victims of the flooding; Calvinia in the Northern Cape where farmers and farmworkers have no resources available for themselves or their animals; Graaff-Reinet to provide items crucial for the survival of drought victims; and Ntinini in KwaZulu-Natal to feed the hungry, amongst others.”

Sooliman says their convoys travel long distances across the country to deliver relief to those South Africans most in need

“This generous commitment by Engen to assist with our fuel costs is going to make a significant difference to the reach of our intervention efforts. A partnership with like-minded brands such as Engen, will enable us to strengthen our ability to make an impact to the lives of some of the most vulnerable people across South Africa. I applaud Engen for this commitment.”

Engen is South Africa’s largest fuel company by market share, with over 1 000 service stations spread across the length and breadth of the country, as well as a supply and distribution infrastructure covering all nine provinces. 

In 2019 Engen was named South Africa’s fastest-growing brand, according to Brand Finance South Africa 50, and has been voted as the 'Coolest Petroleum Brand' at the Sunday Times Generation Next Awards for 10 consecutive years.

The Gift of the Givers Foundation is the largest disaster response non-governmental organisation of African origin on the African continent. The essence of the foundation is to bring hope and restore dignity to the most vulnerable.