The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) made a generous donation of 1000 school uniforms to underprivileged pupils across the iLembe District Municipality.
The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Provincial Treasury also handed over 267 uniforms to pupils so they can be dressed for success for the second term.
Santaco iLembe Region and the KZN Finance MEC, Peggy Nkonyeni partnered for the initiative.
The annual event, which takes place in iLembe District, is led by Santaco, whose iLembe District chairperson, Sibongiseni Kubheka, said the initiative was an attempt to tackle poverty among school pupils and to encourage school children to improve themselves through education.
During the handover ceremony held at Sibusisiwe Community Hall in Mandeni, Santaco donated 1000 full school uniforms, while KZN Treasury donated 267 uniforms.
Ms Nkonyeni said the donations help to close the poverty gap among learners so that they will “look and feel similar and jointly focus on education”.
“The government has been donating the uniforms to various schools, not only in iLembe District but all over KwaZulu-Natal,” she added.
Mr Kubheka, said the council works with the provincial Department of Education to identify pupils from disadvantaged households, so that they can be assisted.
“This is our way of giving back to the community, but we also want to demonstrate that education is important, and we encourage our children to focus on it in order to build a bright future for themselves. We are also delighted to be joined by KZN Treasury, iLembe District and Mandeni Local Municipalities because this creates a better impact for our initiative,” Mr Kubheka said.
District Director for the Department of Education in the iLembe District, Musa Madondo, said the donations build partnerships that help each recipient learner to embrace education as a platform that ensures a bright future.
The MEC added that this event comes just after KZN Treasury and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) donated close to 300 full school uniforms to pupils from various schools in the district last month.
