MBOMBELA – The management of a locally based law firm, Macbeth Attorneys, are a living proof of dividends of hard work through their philanthropic commitment of investing in the lives of top three matric learners from Khutsalani High School in KaBokweni. They continued to keep their word even this year.
Last Friday, the firm spent over R50 000 towards the tuition fees of nine learners who received the highest marks in their matric exams between 2013 and 2015.
These recipients include last year’s top achievers namely Londeka Zikalala who obtained five distinctions and has been admitted to Wits University where she is pursuing studies in civil engineering. Zikalala was awarded a R5 000 cheque to assist her with her travelling costs, registration and other expenses.
Mpumalanga News learnt that she had already received a bursary to cover her tuition, accommodation and meals from the Motsepe Foundation. The other top achievers also received cheques of between R5 000 and R3 000.
This year the firm under the wings of its founder Mr Macbeth Ncongwane, who is also a product of the same school celebrated 10 years of this generosity.
According to Ncongwane he started the initiative of funding the school’s top three learners in 2003 and his firm joined in 2006 to make it one of the firm’s corporate social investment projects (CSI).
The project aims to help learners achieve their dreams of furthering their education at institutions of higher learning despite their family backgrounds. It is a way of ploughing back to the school he learned in and the entire community he serves. Above all, the project is a legacy of his late mom Ms Ever Manda who also used to pay university fees for needy students. “Through this initiative we had made it possible for students from remote areas to access university after obtaining good results.
From there they then apply for bursaries from either National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) or other student loans and bursaries.
So far more than 20 graduates in different fields benefitted from Macbeth’s funds in their lives.
“Some come back and offer to pay back the money but we say, we don’t want to be paid. All we need is for them to enlarge the pool through investing in the lives of other matric learners so they can also attain varsity qualifications.
Recipients of the funds were urged to grab and use opportunities without reservations. Motivational quotes like “Live as if you will die tomorrow and learn as if you live forever,” and others were shared.
The students were urged not to allow bad character to sabotage their intelligence. The educator whose learners achieved a 100 per cent pass rate, Mr Jabu Mthombothi was awarded a cheque of R1 500 by the lawyers. Asked on how he instilled discipline in his learners without using any form of corporal punishment, Mthombothi said, “We love them, encourage them, motivate them and tell them they are going to pass at the end of the year.”
The school’s principal Mr Mbongeni Sibande expressed his gratitude to the law firm for their continued kind gesture. “We are so grateful to Macbeth Attorneys for not forgetting their roots, the school he learned in and for remembering to plough back in the community. May God richly bless him and his firm,” he said.
