Power to the people

Avon Peaking power plant, situated in Ilembe aims to improve their involvement with the Ilembe and KwaDukuza community.

Their newly appointed community liaison officer, Jabulile Motlhako, who is based in their offices in Johannesburg will work in collaboration with stakeholders and the community to identify and address their needs.

“We are working on developing sustainable projects which will benefit the community in the long term. Our plan is not just to fund projects but to see it through, so that long after the funding has stopped – the people will still possess the skills and knowledge”, said Motlhako.

The projects are still in the planning stages, however, they are set to target four main focus areas: biodiversity, BEE enterprises, social and welfare as well as education.

A programme which is almost up and running is the valued citizen initiative project (VCI) which is aimed to re-instill passion in teachers.

“When you have motivated teachers you have pupils who are willing to learn as the passion for that particular subject will be passed on to them. We often find that when teachers don’t enjoy their job, pupils do not enjoy learning,” she said.

The schools that are selected as beneficiaries of VCI are, Esibumbini Primary school, Dingizwe Combined school, Nonoti Primary school and Siyaphumelela High school.

The second project, a maths and science pupil intervention, targets grade 11 and 12 pupils from six different schools in the area. The programme will be held at a centre, where pupils will be provided with extra tutions during the June/July and the September/October holidays.

“Along with the maths and science tution that we will be providing, we will also teach pupils how to use a computer which will benefit them when they go to university. Our goal is to identify a need and address it. As much as we would like to combat the difficult subjects like maths and science, we may find that pupils also struggle with English. In which case, we will address that too.”

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