eMadlangeni Local Municipality held an Excellence Awards function on 31 January, at the Utrecht Town Hall. The awards honoured the matric Class of 2019, for dedication and hard work shown through the year.

The municipality used the event to donate school uniforms to underprivileged learners in the Utrecht area. Mayor, Lindile Mhlungu also handed over eight laptops to learners who performed excellently in 2019, while the top learner received a printer as well.

Cllr Mhlungu explained the initiative aimed to ensure other learners were motivated to excel in their school studies.

“Today, we are not only honouring the learners, but we are also congratulating the teachers for their remarkable work and effort in making sure learners do well.”

Cllr Mhlungu then congratulated Ngcaka and Umzilikazi High Schools, which both obtained a 100 per cent pass rate in 2019. She further announced her office had started begun assisting children who were in need of registration fees for universities or TVET colleges.

“Our municipality wants to make education fashionable and we encourage all those who passed matric to pursue tertiary studies diligently, so they can come back to work towards developing the economy of eMadlangeni.”

A top achiever from Umzilikazi High, Mthokozisi Buthelezi, who passed with six distinctions and obtained admission to study for a Bachelor’s degree, said he was grateful to the municipality for awarding learners with laptops, which would make work easier for those attending university. Mthokozisi will pursuing a career in Actuarial Science at the University of Johannesburg. 

Acting Municipal Manager, Sanelisiwe Mhlophe said it was the municipality’s duty to make sure top learners were recognised in the community:

“These learners are the future. The municipality will assist in whatever way it can in ensuring students from eMadlangeni get assistance to obtain higher education. We are also committed to assisting learners who do not have school uniforms by providing them with uniforms, to ensure they stay in school. It was noted lacking school uniforms may lead to a high rate of dropouts, which might cause an increase in the crime rate in the community. By providing school uniforms, the municipality hopes to mitigate the cause of school dropouts.”

ALSO READ: PREVIEW: eMadlangeni Municipality tables its Draft Budget

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