Education MEC calls on Mpumalanga communities to adopt a school for Madiba
The MEC for education, Cathy Dlamini, has encouraged the public to prioritise education and to assist local schools.
As part of honouring the legacy of the former state president and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Nelson Mandela, the MEC for education, Cathy Dlamini, has called on the Mpumalanga communities to roll up their sleeves and adopt schools with the aim of protecting them against vandalism.
Speaking during the department’s official unveiling of the 2024 Nelson Mandela Month programme at MC Zitha Secondary School in Masibekela, Nkomazi Local Municipality, on Thursday July 11, Dlamini said communities should prioritise education.
“The founding father of our democracy, Mandela, was passionate about education and that is one of the reasons why he personally presided over the official opening of the Joseph Matsebula High School in Driekoppies back in 1995. He understood that the greatest freedom and weapon was education, and that an uneducated nation has no future,” said Dlamini.
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“It is therefore critical that we guard our schools, teachers and learners so that education can thrive, and when education thrives, so does our economy.”
Dlamini was accompanied to the school by the HOD, Lucy Moyane, the Nkomazi Council’s Speaker, Hilda Nyambi, and stakeholders of various departments such as correctional services and agriculture, as well as representatives of Old Mutual, the Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust and the Forek Institute of Technology.
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Together they participated in cleaning the school, replacing broken windows and doors, repairing furniture, painting walls, the planting of trees and the establishment of vegetables gardens, among other activities.
The Department of Correctional Services’ area co-ordinator for social integration, Khabonina Fakude, said: “The department regards Nelson Mandela Month as very significant because it reminds all of us about the spirit of ubuntu and the value of selflessness.”
