Eight new Star Schools have opened in Durban, South Africa, as part of a JAC (Jobs, AIDS and Conservation) initiative from the owner of the Thanda Private Game Reserve and Spa, Dan Olofsson.

The Star Schools promote an AIDS-free lifestyle in an area that has high levels of unemployment and HIV/AIDS levels. The concept aims to help and support South African high school students to live an AIDS-free life by increasing their knowledge and change their attitudes towards it in a perceptual way.

To date, Thanda Private Game Reserve and Spa has created more than 200 jobs in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa.

Besides creating employment for more than 100 staff members who reside at the property, Thanda also employs 58 men and women at Vula Zulu, a cultural theatre situated adjacent to Thanda.

A further 20 local community residents are employed on a contract basis with an extra 20 members working for an outsourced contractor involved in weed eradication and bush thinning.