The Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison will tomorrow distribute school shoes as part of our Mandela Day initiative to learners of two rural schools who walk a long distance to school.
Learners of Boplaas Primary School just outside Upington will receive 35 pairs of school shoes followed by 30 pairs of school shoes to be distributed at Elandsvlei Primary school outside Calvinia on Tuesday.
These initiatives are part of our department’s Mandela Day contribution and also to aid learners who walk a long distance to school. Following assessments done by our department on the needs for transportation in communities, we found, particularly in most rural and disadvantaged areas, that learners, walk to school for long distances. In many of the cases the learners had never owned a pair of school shoes.
In a bid to address the situation, the distribution of school shoes to the learners is part of our non-motorised transportation initiatives to make sure that these disadvantaged learners are able to walk more comfortably to school.
Our department’s initiative is also encouraged by the fact that walking is regarded as a mode of transport as transportation is part of our department’s mandate.
The focus for our department in this regard is rural or farm schools where there is no provision for learner transport or where other modes of transportation are limited or not available.
This year’s school shoes distribution at the two schools will also form part of a distribution of full school uniform and school shoes to be distributed in Fraserburg where the main Provincial Government Mandela Day programme will unfold.
For any enquiries contact:
Keitumetse Moticoe, Communication Officer
Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison
Cell: 074 251 6567 or 082 064 7003
