Local mine donates sewing machines

Vunene Mining donated seven sewing machines to Ms Anna Matsane, Director of Nometha Trading, last Thursday in Ermelo.

According to the Human Resources Manager of the mine, Mr Martin Magadla, the donation is a culmination of a series of meetings between themselves, Msukaligwa Concerned Citizens (MCC) and the Municipal Local Economic Development (LED).

Mr Magadla said they made the donation to Ms Matsane after they had looked at the impact the project would have on the community and the number of people that would be affected by the donation.

“We saw that the project will benefit a lot of people, as it will not be sewing only, but also training. We believe that when you train people to do something for themselves, you end up touching a lot of lives,” said Mr Magadla.

When asked if there were any projects in the pipeline with Nometha Trading, Mr Magadla said in the near future Ms Matsane would be starting to manufacture overalls for the mine and they would be willing to buy from her as part of an ongoing partnership with Nometha Trading.

Mr Magadla added that the mine is involved in a wide range of community development initiatives, such as the Human Resource Development where they train members of the community for the work environment and small business development where they give opportunities to small businesses to develop themselves.

In her acceptance speech, Ms Matsane committed to making sure that she trains as many people as she possibly can so as to contribute creating job opportunities for others.

Vunene Mine also committed itself to continuing with their Social Labour Plan despite other challenges.

Mine Manager Mr Moeketsi Sekhokoane said it was important for them as a local mine to contribute to local economy.

“As we go along, we continue contributing to young up-and-coming businesses.”

Ms Matsana is a recipient of an excellence award from Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza for her outstanding performance and achievement in encouraging women in business. She was also rewarded when she came second in her category in the Eskom Business Competition, where she walked off with prize money of R25 000.00 to improve her business.