KZN Treasury, SANTACO hand over school uniforms to poor learners

Nkonyeni said the donations help to close the poverty gap among learners so that they will “look and feel similar and jointly focus on education”.

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Treasury and the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) have handed over 1 000 school uniforms to underprivileged learners across the iLembe District Municipality.

KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC, Peggy Nkonyeni and SANTACO iLembe Region joined hands to give dignity and improve confidence among underprivileged learners through a much-needed donation of 1 267 full school uniforms.

The annual event, which takes place in iLembe District and is led by SANTACO, is an attempt to strike a serious blow to poverty affecting learners, and a step in the direction to embed focus in education and to encourage learners to improve themselves through schooling. 

During the handover ceremony held at Sibusisiwe Community Hall in Mandeni, SANTACO donated 1 000 full school uniforms, while KZN Treasury donated 267 uniforms.

Nkonyeni said the donations help to close the poverty gap among learners so that they will “look and feel similar and jointly focus on education”.

Nkonyeni said government has been donating the uniforms to various schools, not only in iLembe District but all over KwaZulu-Natal. 

“SANTACO iLembe Region has done exceedingly well, and this again is a sign that they are not only interested in profit and their own families, but they are working with government to improve the socio-economic situations in our communities.

“All these donations complement the efforts by certain teachers who silently use their hard-earned money to buy uniform for some of the poor learners that they teach,” Nkonyeni said.

SANTACO iLembe District Chairperson, Sibongiseni Kubheka, said the council works with the provincial Department of Education to identify learners coming from disadvantaged households, so that they can be assisted with full school uniform. 

“This is our way of ploughing back into the community, but we also want to demonstrate that education is important, and we encourage our children to focus on it in order to build a bright future for themselves. 

“We are also delighted to be joined by KZN Treasury, iLembe District and Mandeni Local Municipalities because this creates a better impact for our initiative,” Kubheka said.

District Director for the Department of Education in iLembe District, Musa Madondo, said the donations build partnerships that help each recipient learner to embrace education as a platform that ensures a bright future. 

This event comes just after KZN Treasury and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) donated close to 300 full school uniforms last month, which were handed over to learners from various schools in the district. 

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)