Glencore Ferroalloys donates eight college campus classrooms
Ehlanzeni TVET College at the Mashishing Campus has eight new classes that were recently opened.
On Friday March 11, Glencore Ferroalloys handed over eight new classrooms worth R5m, in addition to the initial R7.5m investment made, to the Ehlanzeni TVET College at the Mashishing Campus.
The classrooms were proudly received by the college principal, Elias Mbuyane, the Department of Higher Education and Training’s regional manager for the North West and Mpumalanga, Dr Nick Balkrishen, and its director-general, Dr Nkosinathi Sishi, the executive mayor of Thaba Chweu Municipality, Cllr Fridah Nkadimeng, the Speaker of the Mpumalanga provincial government, Makhosazane Masilela, and the Department of Public Works. Glencore Ferroalloys’ chief community and social responsibility officer, Conroy van der Westhuizen, addressed guests on the day and emphasised the importance of prioritising quality education to help position the youth for better opportunities.
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“The campus was established in 2019 when we approached the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works about fixing potholes in the roads, and discovered some buildings were not being used. This sparked our thinking of taking advantage of the vacant buildings to fulfil the town’s needs of education and unemployment. Three years later, we have added eight additional classrooms to meet the demand for learning space, and nothing brings us more joy than being able to meet the needs of people who want to learn and create a brighter future for themselves.
Through our partnership with the Department of Public Works and the Department of Higher Education and Training, we were able to construct new classrooms to increase student capacity. It is a pleasure to hand over these facilities to the Mashishing Campus since we see the diligence, doggedness and determination as reflected in the academic results of the students,” he said.
Sishi thanked Glencore Ferroalloys for always being open to partner with government in its pursuit to create a positive change in the country.
“The Department of Higher Education and Training is grateful to Glencore for the continued and unconditional support that you have given the Ehlanzeni TVET College thus far. The eight classrooms we have received today have come at a time of need and are a display of a value proposition partnership with Glencore. On behalf of the TVET sector, I wish to express our sincerest gratitude to Glencore and we would like to see this partnership grow further to embrace other initiatives with value benefits for the community of Thaba Chweu in particular, and the entire sector as a whole,” he said.
The Mashishing Campus is the youngest of seven in the Ehlanzeni Region and has already walked away with two trophies after coming out on top in two programmes during the 2021 November examinations.
In the national certificate (vocational) the campus achieved 96% and 94% in the semester 2 business studies examination, and outside of academic performance, the campus won the first principal’s award for being the cleanest campus over the 2021 academic year. In line with the Vision 2030 National Development Plan, which aims to address access to education and training of the highest quality, Glencore has once again joined hands with the government to improve education facilities in the communities near their operations.
