150 learners receive new school shoes
Walking to schools in torn shoes, barefoot and on slings is now a thing of the past for 150 learners from two schools in the Nkomazi Local Municipality.
MBOMBELA – Brand new pairs of shoes for both needy girls and boys of Mbombo Combined and Zibokwane Primary schools were donated. Each school received 75 pairs.
This initiative follows a call made by Harmocept Events, the organisers of the Mbombela Jazz Festival, at the annual charity golf day last year where golfers and sponsors were encouraged to donate school shoes as a way of giving back to local communities.
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Recently representatives from the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) and the CEO of Harmocept Events handed out the shoes.
“Rural schools are very close to my heart because I am from a rural community. I will sleep as a happy man knowing that I have planted a seed to those in need,” said Anele Mbatsane.
Mbatsane said he was deeply touched by the learners he saw at Mbombo Combined and decided to adopt them. He pledged to help needy learners from the school on a monthly basis. “What I saw at the school was quite heartbreaking.
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As Harmocept Events we will have to up our game in making sure the learners’ hygienic needs are met by us on a monthly basis. We will also provide sanitary towels,” he said. He called on other stakeholders to support rural schools through their corporate social investment (CSI).
“We are blessed to be a blessing to others. With the very little that God has given us, let us come and give to the needy people,” he said. The day saw the MEC for finance, economic development and tourism, Mr Eric Kholwane, bragging about the work done by the ANC-led government in prioritising education in the province.
He said from 2014 to date, the province had a budget of R212 billion, of which only R198 billion was used. “From R198 billion, an amount of R99 billion was used in education and R55 billion in health.
This means that this government is so passionate about education, hence so much of government’s money has been channelled towards it,” he said. Kholwane also urged learners to be aware of advancing technology and the Fourth Industrial Revolution when choosing their careers. He motivated learners to be serious in their schoolwork because, without education, the future will be bleak.
