13 June 2022 – The South African Football Association (SAFA) recently held a Wellness Day for the first time in a number of years in a bid to pay closer attention to the health needs of staff.
It was a day to remember as the outbreak of Covid-19 made it impossible for gatherings of this nature to be organised with staff. Much like other work places that have had to adapt to the new normal during the last two years, the people at SAFA have also been under a lot of stress and anxiety caused by the devastating impact of the pandemic.
The Association was not spared the devastation as some employees lost their loved ones, those close to them lost their sources of income, and this had a ripple effect on the way of life in many households. These challenges and many other difficult realities of life saw employees forgetting to get back to the basics and taking care of themselves, and checking vitals such as high blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels among others.
SAFA’s Human Resources Manager Lerato Mabuso worked very hard to ensure that Wellness Day got off the ground and it was a huge success. The gathering also provided a platform for health screenings, and a bit of team building with Ignite Gym, together with our service providers Clinix , SANBS, Yisiongo (Medical Aid Brokers), Old Mutual, Skin and Body Aesthetics and Beauty Bar, just to name a few. Information was shared but most importantly, the staff managed to let their hair down and had FUN!!
Mabuso: “We always need to strive to take care of the ‘real Issues’, which for me are our employees, who outside of your own family work automatically becomes your secondary family because 80% of an individual’s time is spent at work. So it needs to be a place we build a culture where our employees know that their wellbeing is one of the Associations vital priority.’