The first organisation to receive its BMW X3 20d is The Rhino Orphanage, a Limpopo-based charity dedicated to saving orphaned baby rhinoceroses. Universities and technical colleges selected to receive cars will be announced in the following months. The purpose of this donations is dedicated to engineering education.
Tim Abbott, CEO of BMW Group South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, said BMW Group South Africa had “started production on the BMW X3, but we are building more than just a car in South Africa”.
“We’re honoured to be able to give back, and donating 20 cars to the right kind of organisation is the continuation of our long-standing commitment to charitable causes.”
Abbott said that the NGO partners the company has selected are “organisations as dedicated to South Africa as we have been for the past 45 years.”
Abbott said donating BMW X3s to selected technical colleges and universities was a natural extension of BMW’s long-term support for education in South Africa. Abbott recently handed over the keys, at a ceremony attended by the media, of a brand-new BMW X3 to the Rhino Orphanage’s founder, Arrie Van Deventer.
Van Deventer said the donation was hugely significant for the Rhino Orphanage. “We were thrilled that BMW is interested in what we are doing, and what we’re trying to achieve. The BMW X3 is really ideal for us, as it’s a robust, spacious car with excellent off-road capabilities, which we will use all the time. It’s also really efficient, so will not be expensive for us to run”, Van Deventer said.
