DCM officially hands over classrooms at Nkotwane
Dwarsrivier Chrome Mine has made a considerable contribution to local education by handing over three blocks of classrooms, an administration block and ablution facilities to the Nkotwane Secondary School in Ga-Masha on Friday.
The event was held at the Nkotwane sports grounds. Attendees included Ngwaabe’s circuit manager, Madikgake Masha, the school management team, learners, representatives of the Masha Tribal Authority, the management of Dwarsrivier Chrome Mine (DCM), consulting engineers and the main contractors.
In March 2020, DCM made a promise to improve the dilapidated classrooms at the school with brand-new state-of-the-art buildings. “This investment reflects our caring attitude towards our community. Education is a key element of a thriving community. Our aspirational vision is for all children in our communities to have access to good education and training,” said DCM’s socio-economic development superintendent, Tlotlego Mokgoko.
“It’s a milestone to be handing over the new buildings. We are here to create a memory, as this school will last for years. “We have erected the school for the community and people of Ga-Masha. Let’s have a positive relationship as stakeholders and improve our communities for the better.”
DCM’s socio-economic development manager, Remember Mmbengwa, said they have always had good relationship with local schools, including Nkotwane.
“We have been working with this school for the past decade. We have always had a good relationship with them, making donations. That is when we realised the challenges they had with the infrastructure. “For the few years we have been mining, we have developed the communities in Sekhukhune.
“Among the projects we invested in, are water, electricity and educational projects. We also erected a community home-based care centre in Ngwaabe, and built 50 hawker stalls in Burgersfort.” Mmbengwa urged the learners to study hard in order to succeed in life. “We have given you the infrastructure, now you have to sharpen your future.
“The future is in your hands. DCM also offers bursaries for hardworking pupils and the best ones. Take care of this infrastructure; we need future generation to find it intact.” Masha thanked DCM for its contributions to Limpopo’s education department. He urged other local mines to assist in investing in education.
“These children are our future leaders and our future generation. We want to see future engineers, general managers and architects coming from this area. We feel humbled to be here today – seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces because of the buildings. We don’t want to see kids cramped in classrooms, and we thank DCM for this good gesture.”
Nkotwane’s principal, Kaizer Masha, said the school has been struggling with dilapidated buildings that had been erected by the communities in the past decades.
“The new state-of-the art facility for learning accommodates the growing student population. We are thankful to DCM and the contractors for erecting quality buildings.”
The principal, circuit manager and DCM management concluded the event by signing an acknowledgement of school infrastructure.
