How we respond to this pandemic has been our greatest Thuma Mina moment, Leila Fourie says.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) announced on Wednesday, 8 April, that it will be donating fees derived across all asset classes traded on 15 and 16 April as part of brand-new campaign #Trade4Solidarity to the Solidarity Fund.
The Solidarity Fund, which was announced on 23 March by President Cyril Ramaphosa, will fund impactful initiatives that will augment the national health response contributions to national humanitarian efforts. It also aims to flatten the curve and manage the pandemic and its impacts.
Announcing the launch of #Trade4Solidarity campaign, JSE Group CEO Leila Fourie said the “JSE staff and executive team had felt that this was a very tangible way in which they could answer the president’s call to #PlayYourPart. How we respond to this pandemic has been our greatest Thuma Mina moment, not just for us, but for the country.”
According to a statement by the JSE, the #Trade4Solidarity initiative encourages market participants to join the JSE by contributing a portion or percentage of their trading revenues to the fund.
To mark the occasion, Leila and Solidarity Fund chairperson Gloria Serobe will host the JSE’s first virtual market open as the market begins to #Trade4Solidarity on Wednesday 15 April.
JSE director of capital markets Valdene Reddy adds that “We have seen companies pivot to making hand sanitisers and face masks, individuals, corporates and consortiums making meaningful contributions where required. #Trade4Solidarity allows us to make our own contribution to what is the greatest public health crisis this world has witnessed in recent history.”
The JSE will also not be suspending contractor services at this crucial time to support its suppliers, service providers and contractors.
“We all have to do our bit; we have to support each other so that we can ensure that job losses are kept to a minimum – and that salaries are paid at the end of the month. This is another tangible way in which we believe we can help, so I encourage everyone in the trading community where possible to join the call and stand together with us as we support the Solidarity Fund to make a difference,” Fourie concluded.
