MALAMULELE – CONNIE and Gracious Makamu from Xitlhelani village in Malamulele could not wait to go to school in their new uniforms, which was recently donated to them by DA member of a parliament, Solly Malatsi.
According to the two chil-dren’s unemployed mother, Lynette Makamu, the girls had not been going to school as often as the other children as they did not have any uniforms to wear to school.
Makamu, who has four other children, said this had been going on for a while until a DA representative in the village spotted them.
“I had gotten used to the idea of them staying at home on school days because they had nothing to wear to school,” Makamu explained.
“Even though the school understood my predicament and did not send them back home when they were not in uniform, they did not feel comfortable attending school because the other children made fun of them and laughed at them.”
She said her two older children needed to attend special schools as they were both slow learners and could not cope in regular schools.
“I have tried to enrol them in several institutions and schools that I know of in the Vhembe and Mopani district but with no luck,” she said.
Makamu lives in a one-roomed house with her six children, four of whom receive government grants.
“Looking for a special school comes at a huge cost, since I have to use the money that I am supposed to feed my kids with to find a school for them,” she said.
Malatsi said now that they had managed to get uniform for the younger children, they could consider the family’s other needs.
“The immediate thing was to get the children the much needed uniforms so that they would go to school,” explained Malatsi, adding that the DA believed that no child should be unable to go to school because they did not have uniforms.
“Regarding the issue of their siblings’ need for a special school, I will write to the MEC of education to see if government can help to find them a special school,” he said.
