College builds family a home for Mandela Day
Mopani TVET College principal, Dr. Levy Baloyi officiated a sod-turning ceremony on Monday, July 11, to mark the start of the construction of a house for an elderly blind woman in Mashishimale as part of its Mandela Day initiative.
The campaign seeks to support the objectives of Mandela Day which encourages institutions and individuals to inspire change, take action against poverty and lend a helping hand. Through the assistance of the BaPhalaborwa Municipality, particularly the mayor’s office, the college selected the family of Letty Malatji, a destitute 86-year-old woman who stays in a dilapidated house with her four grandchildren.
She was also living with her 53-year-old mentally challenged son who sadly passed on prior to the start of the project. Ward councillor, Sinah Shayi, commended the educational institution for lending a helping hand to the family. “This family has occasionally applied for an RDP house with no success. We are grateful as the municipality that the college came through to assist and we remain humbled by such an act of ubuntu,” said Shayi.
Also read: PMC to build a R12 million school
The college saw it fit to assist the family as it has been identified as one of the most impoverished families in the area with no proper shelter, living only on social grants, and whose safety and rights to dignity are compromised. Baloyi said the intention is to build a three-bedroom house. He further highlighted that the project will be done through public-private partnerships and constructed by the college’s apprentices under the supervision of their facilitators.
