18 November 2007
The Premier's Spouse's Fund, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport
and Sekunjalo Investments have joined forces to support the work of the Athlone
Academy of Music. On Saturday, 17 November 2007, at the Silverlea Primary
School, the three partners handed over musical instruments and funding worth a
total of R110 000 to the Athlone Academy of Music at a function attended by
parents, students and community members.
The donation is aimed at improving the quality of learning for the nearly
500 pupils attending at the academy. It serves young people on the Cape Flats
by identifying and developing community through music education. The study of
music is presented to develop talent and as an alternative to gangsterism and
drug abuse amongst our youth. Ms Rosieda Shabodien has been using the Premier's
Spouse's Fund to bring much-needed upliftment in the areas of health, education
and culture.
"Every child has a talent that needs to be discovered and this is made
possible through the work of centres such as the Athlone Academy of Music. If
given the opportunities and encouragement, children can achieve amazing things,
even against the odds. Those odds are particularly daunting on the Cape Flats,
where drugs, gangs and crime pose some of the greatest threats to our future -
children and the youth. We hope our modest contribution will assist in
providing young people with alternatives to the life which gangs and drugs
offer," Ms Shabodien told some 300 guests.
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport donates a large part of the
funding in this partnership as part of its mission of providing services in the
fields of arts, culture, heritage, sport and recreation to improve the quality
of life for people of the Western Cape. Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Whitey
Jacobs said: "Our financial contribution and assistance to the Athlone Music
Academy is a strategic intervention premised on our broad objectives of
developing different music genres.
The academy has, for many years, struggled to make ends meet and yet
continued to craft and produce quality voices and musicians for our province. I
am grateful to the co-sponsors of the academy for ensuring our collective
efforts of developing music are realised,"
Zenariah Barends Executive Director of Sekunjalo Corporate Services said:
"Support for the arts, particularly music, is high on the Corporate Social
Investment agenda of Sekunjalo. We are very happy to partner the public sector
to assist, develop and empower in making a mere possibility a reality."
For further information:
Mansoor Jaffer
Director: Communication Programmes
Tel: 021 483 8706
E-mail: mjaffer@pgwc.gov.za
Enquiries:
Jeremy Michaels
Chief Director: Communications
Tel: 021 483 9955
Fax: 021 483 7196
Cell: 082 772 1122
E-mail: jmichaels@pgwc.gov.za
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Western Cape Provincial Government
18 November 2007
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://www.capegateway.gov.za)
