Mr Seaparo Sekoati on the occasion of the handover of house number 2614,
Namakgale, Phalaborwa
23 March 2007
Programme Director
The Provincial Commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services
Mayor of Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality
The CEO of MRTT
Councillors
Area commissioner
Government officials present
Ladies and gentlemen
It is my pleasure to address you in this historic event in Namakgale,
Phalaborwa. It is historic because it is the first time in our province that we
have seen such partnership of intergovernmental, cross-province and national
departments in practice. The beneficiaries of this occasion are Mme Moagi, the
parolees and probationers and the community of Phalaborwa.
The Department of Health and Social Development in Limpopo is proud to be
part of this event that proves that together we can fight and eliminate poverty
in our communities. When we were approached to choose a beneficiary, we chose
Mme Moagi not only because she is a pensioner but that she is also looking
after two orphans. The house she was leaving in was of high health risk and an
intervention of this nature was fitting. Our social workers in this regard did
a marvellous job.
More interesting is that the house was renovated by parolees and
probationers who were imprisoned for doing wrong against society. They learn
the skills to build during their time in prison as an effort by the Department
of Correctional Services to rehabilitate them. Their involvement of renovating
this house is another way to say we are sorry and can now play a meaningful
role in society. Poverty is eradicated in two folds, first by upgrading the
life of the pensioner and her dependants. They are out of the danger of an
unhealthy and depressive environment, secondly, creating chances of employment
for parolees and probationers. For a change, poverty is on the back foot.
Programme Director, allow me to give a word of encouragement to our
colleagues in the Department of Correctional Services for initiating this
project. We want to give our special appreciation to the Mpumalanga Regional
Training Trust for going out of their way to offer extra materials such as
tiles and other extras and technical assistance, without which the project
could have not had the desired outcomes. The role played by the Department of
Labour through the Skills Development Fund in ensuring that there are funds
available to train parolees and probationers was significant. Our role was to
identify the needy and we handed over to the deserving family. Lastly, Mme
Moagi together with your son and the two foster children, enjoy your stay in
your renovated house.
I thank you
Issued by: Department of Social Development, Limpopo Provincial
Government
23 March 2007
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government, (http://www.limpopo.gov.za)
