Approximately 500 masks have been donated to Hartzstraat Primary School in Toekomsrus.

According to Vincent Smith, a community activist who is also a member of African National Congress (ANC), Hartzstraat was one of the schools identified in coloured communities in need of personal protective equipment (PPE). He explained they had an interview with the principal, Shadean Butler, who is one of 58 principals from coloured communities whom they have spoken to.

Smith said he and his colleagues have sourced 9 000 masks for schools.

“Many of these schools complained about having insufficient PPE to prevent Covid-19 infection. I have no agenda and come with no mandate. We do not represent government, and we do not represent the council; we are activists who happened to be members of ANC. I am helping the community to supplement what government is giving to these schools; we felt that we should play our part,” he said.

Some schools, Smith said, also have poor infrastructure, and employment and employability strategies.

“We will come again to check on infrastructure because it will be a problem when learners from other grades return to school.”

Shadean welcomed the donation and said, “It complements what we already have. We will give to the destitute and the poorest because learners lose their masks all the time. This is going to help a lot in our school and community as a whole. I will share it with other schools in Toekomsrus namely Toekomsrus Primary School and Randfontein Secondary School. We thank everyone,” he said.