T- Systems South Africa is sponsoring 400m World Champion Wayde van Niekerk.
The sponsorship will see T-Systems South Africa support van Niekerk to advance his athletics career and assist to launch the Wayde van Niekerk Foundation, an initiative founded by van Niekerk that will support young South Africans to leverage their talent and create a better life for themselves.
Says Gert Schoonbee, MD at T-Systems South Africa: “We identified a number of synergies that made this sponsorship so meaningful. Van Niekerk is a South African that studies, lives and trains in South Africa yet competes globally as well as locally and has achieved significant success in both areas. We at T-Systems are locally based with local shareholding, yet draw on our international parent company’s expertise and experience.
“In addition, we both operate within very fine margins; Milliseconds can mean the difference between winning an international race and coming second. For T-Systems, meeting the criteria in our Service Level Agreements (SLAs) is just as crucial. There is a significant difference between achieving 98% of our SLA and 95% for our customers.
“We are also both committed to enhancing the human experience and making a difference in peoples’ lives.”
Says van Niekerk: “When T-Systems approached me, offering its support and suggested alignment of our brands, it made perfect sense. Like T-Systems, I work with a strong local team that enables me to compete on a global level and I am committed to representing South Africa just as T-Systems is committed to delivering solutions and services that are tailored to the local market.”
Adds Schoonbee: “Our brand is further aligned with van Niekerk and what he represents as he strives to win, sets new records and makes his mark in a field that is highly competitive. It takes hard work and discipline to be a champion athlete and requires much resilience. He also sets the bar for himself and this is exactly what T-Systems is doing. Van Niekerk is disrupting the status quo in the field of athletics with his achievements. Herein lies the parallel with T-Systems as we constantly strive to deliver disruptive solutions and services that underpin our customers’ abilities to in turn, disrupt their markets.”
