Mining group support community
New netball and basketball courts for underprivileged Somopho youth.
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/56/2014/06/handove_600322386.jpg)
MINERAL sands mining company Tronox KZN Sands last week officially opened new netball and basketball courts for the Somopho Community in an effort to help uplift the area’s underprivileged youth.
The courts, built close to all the schools in Somopho just outside Empangeni, were accepted by locals and community leaders attending the handover function at the Mdoda Skills Centre.
Tronox also contributed a tractor and other gardening equipment to assist them with producing bulk vegetables for the newly established uThungulu Market at Empangeni Rail.
Tronox KZN Sands General Manager Neels Oosterhuis asked the KZN Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs to also get involved in investing in the community.
‘The uThungulu Municipality has provided the market and Tronox has provided the tractor and implements.
‘We now challenge the Department of Agriculture to provide the necessary skills transfer and backup, as well as start-up seed for the projects,’ said Oosterhuis.
‘Tronox remains committed to the communities surrounding our mining operations and this has been welcomed by Inkosi Mthembu and the surrounding community.’