The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry (the dti), Ms Elizabeth Thabethe received over three tons of printing paper from Sappi on behalf of the twenty-five schools that participated in the Department of Trade and Industry’s Techno-girl programme, at the Sappi Enstra Mills in Springs yesterday.
The donation formed part of Sappi's Corporate Social Responsibility Programme where it donated over fifty tons of paper to over 93 Schools and non-governmental organisations in close proximity to its operations in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
"We are happy to partner with Sappi especially for the needy schools. We value any other help from the private sector. I am happy about the relationship that has been established today and do look forward to more initiatives of this nature in future. This is Public-Private Partnership working," said Thabethe.
Thabethe added that the initiative was in line with President Jacob Zuma's mandate of delivering five million jobs by 2020 and that it was through such partnerships that such goals would be realised. Sappi Director of Human Resources, Ms Esther Letlape said that the purpose of this handover was to acknowledge the Techno-girl programme and the development it contributes to the girl child.
"We asked ourselves how we can contribute better to the Techno-girl movement. And the answer to that question was through our strength of producing paper," she said.After receiving the paper, Deputy Minister Thabethe then proceeded to Tswelopele Oracle High School in Tembisa, the Techno-girl Gauteng Province 2012 winner to deliver the paper.
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Bongani Lukhele, Acting Chief Director: Media Liaison
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E-mail: Blukhele@thedti.gov.za
