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about rand aid association

Our Vision: To alleviate hardship, assist with overcoming life’s challenges and accompany our chosen beneficiaries on their life journey.

Our Mission

To provide comprehensive and affordable care and support and be responsive to needs of the aging community and to those with substance addiction.

To achieve our mission, we will:

  • Ensure we have a viable and sustainable financial model to provide funding.
  • Continuously improve our existing facilities.
  • Pursue service excellence, commitment and innovation in all areas of our operations.
  • Implement professional models of care and treatment, based on sound theories and practice and performing to best practice.
  • Treat all people coming in and those who come into contact with the organisation with respect, decency and integrity. This includes residents, suppliers, donors and each other.
  • Carefully cultivate, reinforce and maintain a culture of caring consistent with our vision and values.
  • Attract, develop and retain people who are committed to our vision, culture and values.
  • Adapt to a rapid and ever-changing environment.
  • Identify opportunities that will benefit disadvantaged groups and reflect the diversity of our community.
  • Develop new facilities to fulfil our Mission.

Our Vision

To alleviate hardship, assist with overcoming life’s challenges and accompany our chosen beneficiaries on their life journey.

Our Values (guiding concepts, beliefs and principles)

Our values are the foundation of all that we are.

It is our belief that every person making use of our services or providing our services deserves to be treated with dignity. Every person is important, worthy of our best attention, care and respect.

We strongly believe in the value of a community: where every one of our services has a character and a spirit of people caring, for and about each other. We encourage resident responsibility for and participation in communal life, while creating the space for each resident to exercise their own choices and take responsibility for their own life.

Decisions about a person’s care and treatment will always be based on their best interests.

Our Structure

Rand Aid is structured into two entities: the RA Welfare Development Trust, which derives its income from the purchase and sale of the property units on a life right basis; and Rand Aid Association, which is responsible for the daily operation of all services and facilities.

Our Funding Model

The Rand Aid model is unique in that its life right developments have the ability to generate funds in the Trust, which are applied to significantly finance the objectives of our welfare portfolio. This enables us to provide services across a range of income categories.

Since 1997, Rand Aid’s substantial property holdings are held by the RA Welfare Development Trust, a registered trust. This ensures the security of the life right purchasers.

The Trust derives its income from the purchase of property and sale of life rights. As such, those who purchase life rights in our villages are important partners in our ability to fulfil our vision.

The life right villages are managed by Rand Aid Association. Monthly unit levies are limited to the recovering of life right village expenses. Each village is treated as a separate entity for this purpose.

Good Governance

Good governance is critical to our ongoing success.

As a registered non-profit organisation, Rand Aid is committed to upholding the principles contained in the King IV Code of corporate governance in South Africa, as applicable to us.

Our services are governed by an independent, non-executive Board. We are fortunate to attract individuals with great expertise and a high level of integrity, to oversee and guide our full-time employees. The Board is responsible for all strategic decisions and ensures the continued financial stability of the organisation. The Trust and Association Boards meet bimonthly where they are fully informed of the organisation’s financial and service activities by the executive management.

Each of our retirement villages has a Village Committee, from which two members are designated to represent their village on the Rand Aid Residents’ Committee. This committee interfaces with executive management. Of this committee, two members are invited to serve on the Rand Aid Board to represent all residents.

To meet our objectives, we employ a professional team and support staff who are all committed to fulfilling our vision. Our team is varied and includes professional nurses, social workers, sessional doctors and psychologists, chartered accountants, artisans responsible for maintenance, food service personnel, grounds staff, laundry operators, housekeepers and receptionists, clerks, drivers, security and nursing care personnel.

Our employees’ commitment is evidenced by our low staff turnover rate and the job satisfaction they experience. The continued development of our staff is important and our Human Resources Department implements training programmes to foster growth and learning for all.

Our history
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1899 to 1902
Second Anglo-Boer War begins
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1903
RAA was established shortly after the 2nd Anglo Boer War ended (welfare services - feeding, training, employment). Retirement home for men and cottages for indigent families established in Fordsburg.
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1910
Self-governing Union of South Africa established
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1914 to 1918
South Africa supports Allies in World War I
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1918
Deadly influenza pandemic: Spanish Flu: infected 500 million people
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1918 to 1929
Full range of welfare services developed and various retirement villages established.
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1929 to 1939
Great Depression
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1939 to 1945
South Africa supports Allies in World War II
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1943
Wedge Gardens Treatment Centre opens
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1948
Head office established
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1960
Republic of South Africa
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1960 to 1963
Various retirement homes established and association with SANCA begins
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1980
Wedge Farm (Marlboro) expropriated by government. Compensation: land next to Edenvale Hospital for Wedge and Tarentaal
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Early 1984
New Wedge Gardens completed
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Late 1980s
Conception of RAA’s business model
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1988
Tarentaal Village completed
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1990
Elphin Lodge opened
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1990
Ron Smith Care Centre opened
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1994
Government of National Unity
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2002
Thornhill Manor opened
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2006
Old age home bought to become Thembalami
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2007
Inyoni Creek opened
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2012
Eden Alternative principles implemented at RSCC and Specialised Dementia Unit established
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2015
Max Ordman Deaf Association merged into Rand Aid
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2018
Proposal submitted to purchase land to develop Glendower
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2019
Covid-19 pandemic begins
Our board of directors
Paul Carter
Paul Carter

Chairman

Joined RAA Board

20 August 2014

Expertise

Co-Founder of ClucasGray, investment management for private clients’ portfolios

Qualifications

Bsc (Inf Proc)

Gert Coetzee
Gert Coetzee

CEO

Joined RAA Board

1 August 2024

Expertise

Management accountant,  joined the retirement industry 2012.

Qualifications

N-Dip Cost and Management Accounting

 

Carel Smit
Carel Smit

Board Member

Joined RAA Board

13 December 2019

Expertise

Previously a Manager, Managing Partner and Head of Markets at KPMG

Qualifications

B.Compt (FS), CTA (UFS), CA(SA), H.Dip in Tax Law

Christiaan Bester
Adv. Christiaan Bester

Board Member

Joined RAA Board

24 August 2016

Expertise

Advocate and Member of the Bar

Qualifications

BA, LLB and LLM

Graham Brokenshire
Graham Brokenshire

Board Member

Joined RAA Board

22 August 2018

Expertise

Electrical engineering, previously a Senior Member of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers

Qualifications

Bsc (Eng), MDP (Mining), (SMSAIEE)

Adv. Jabulile Chanza
Adv. Jabulile Chanza

Board Member

Joined RAA Board

28 September 2022

Expertise

Practising advocate

Qualifications

LLB

Dr Carmella Mielke
Dr Carmella Mielke

Board Member

Joined RAA Board

2 December 2022

Expertise

Doctor with a special interest in geriatric medicine and elderly care.

Qualifications

BSc, Medical General Practitioner, with a special interest in Geriatric medicine.

Keith
Keith Fraser

Board Member

Joined RAA Board

21 June 2023

Expertise

Chartered Accountant

Qualifications

CA (SA)

Our Executive Management
Amanda
Amanda Diener
GM Commercial and Compliance
Wim
Wim Pieterse
GM Finance and Services
_MG_8743
Ayanda Matthews
GM Care and Human Resources