Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi and the Tim Tebeila Foundation pay it forward with a nationwide back to school campaign
The Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, MP, in partnership with the Tim Tebeila Foundation, will on Thursday, 30 January 2014, hand over 300 school desks to Legana Batho Primary School as part of the nationwide Back to School Campaign. The Foundation has identified eight primary schools in the Sekhukhune region of Mohlaletse, where in partnership with the Fetakgomo Municipality and its esteemed Mayor, as well as Capricorn FM, the Foundation will be handing out brand new school uniforms, books, stationery and other supplies to hundreds of kids from the chosen eight schools.The desks to be handed over are made out of biomass from cleared Invasive Alien Plants and manufactured at the Department of Environmental Affairs’ Working for Water Eco Furniture factory situated in Heidelberg, Gauteng. The Working for Water Programme has piloted value-added industry options, in partnership with the KwaZulu-Natal Invasive Alien Species Programme (KZN IASP). These initiatives have shown the viability of the approach of utilising invasive alien biomass to create jobs, in making value-added products relevant to Government’s needs, and reducing the cost of clearing the invasive plants.
Philanthropist, businessman and mining baron Dr. Tim Tebeila, under the auspices of the Tim Tebeila Foundation, has in the last week embarked on a nationwide Back to School campaign that has seen many primary school children from impDeputy Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi hands over school desks, 29 Janoverished communities benefit from school supplies, uniforms, books and stationery.
The Back to School campaign, whose first leg was kick-started at Mvelaphanda Primary School in Tembisa, north of Johannesburg, then moved to Soweto, where children from Mochochonono Primary School were given the opportunity to benefit from grants by The Tim Tebeila Foundation together with the Foundation’s esteemed co-sponsor partners such as Kaya FM and ABI – the Amalgamated Beverage Industries company.
Dr. Tebeila, who himself hails from Sekhukhune, had this to say: “As someone who started out as a teacher, I understand that the reality of kids from impoverished communities is that they often don’t have the simple pleasure of beginning a school calendar year with a new uniform or new stationery. Having been born into poverty myself, this is a reality I have personal familiarity with. This is my way of taking the spirit of Madiba into action,” he says.
Food parcels, school desks, school bags and t-shirts are some of the gifts that are given to the school children in the hopes of getting them motivated to study hard throughout the year. From Limpopo, the tour will move to the Eastern Cape where another couple of Primary schools will be identified as beneficiaries.
Mabudafhasi commends the partnership with the Foundation, “such partnerships will ensure that we carry forward the legacy of Madiba even beyond the 20 years of freedom and democracy”.
The Tim Tebeila Foundation will be rolling out many other charity campaigns throughout the year, which will see it living up to its mission of fostering a culture of giving and sharing.
Media is invited to attend the event as follows:
Date: Thursday 30 January 2014
Time: 08:00 (during school assembly)
Venue: Legana Batho Primary School, Sekhukhune, Mohlaletse.
To RSVP, contact:
Ernest Mulibana
Cell: 082 263 7372
E-mail: emulibana@environment.gov.za
For media queries, contact:
Peter Mbelengwa – Spokesperson for the Deputy Minister
Cell: 082 611 8197
E-mail: mbelengwap@dwa.gov.za
Cassandra Gudlhuza - Tim Tebeila Foundation
Tel: +27 11 447 2063
Cell: +27 82 097 8007
E-mail: cassandra@blackcumin.co.za
