CAPE TOWN, 28 August 2017 – PetroSA, the Petroleum, Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (SOC) LTD., has come to the aid of
an Eastern Cape village, whose school has been transformed from a dilapidated
mud structure into a centre of learning boasting modern facilities.
PetroSA has
donated R4 million for the complete reconstruction of the Maseleni Junior
Secondary School, at Ntsetshe Village, Dutywa, in the Eastern Cape. The
newly-built school boasts an administration block, three modern classrooms and
ablution facilities. Educators and learners previously relied on a dilapidated
mud structure to serve as both classrooms and an administration block. A pit
latrine served as toilet facilities for learners and educators. The school has
130 learners.
The donation
is part of PetroSA’s dynamic Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme. The
programme supports countrywide initiatives aimed at alleviating impoverished
communities, the empowerment of women and assists in the construction of
health, education and environmental sustainability infrastructure. Since
inception, PetroSA has invested R356 million towards these initiatives.
Recent
initiatives include, investing R1, 5 million towards the modernisation and
refurbishment of 21 Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in the Southern
Cape. Others are the construction of a R6 million state-of-the-art youth centre
in Great Brak, Mossel Bay. PetroSA is also constructing a R14 million
Integrated Energy Centre (IeC) at Qamata, near Cofimvaba. An IeC is a
Department of Energy-led initiative to equip rural areas with facilities that
offer energy services like petroleum products and electricity, among others.
The Maseleni
Junior Secondary School facility took eight months to construct. During the
construction phase, all the labourers utilised were sourced from
the village and its surrounding areas. More than 50 village residents were
appointed during the construction period.
The
newly-constructed facilities were today (28
August 2017) officially handed over to the school by the Minister of
Energy, Ms Mmamoloko Kubayi.
Kholly Zono,
PetroSA’s Acting Group CEO, said the project was a manifestation of the
Company’s long-standing commitment to community development.
“As PetroSA,
we are totally committed, despite our challenges, to ensuring that we play a
meaningful role in developing historically disadvantaged communities. We could
not stand by and watch, while the children of Ntsetshe Village were being
educated in a mud structure,” he said.
“We had to
step in to ensure decency and respectability was restored for the learners and
educators,” Mr Zono added.
Maseleni
Junior Secondary principal, Monica Sifuba, has welcomed the PetroSA donation as
a life-changing development for Ntsetshe village.
“The
community has benefited from when construction began, as jobs were created for
the village. It feels good for us to now be able to teach our learners in
normal classrooms. We are now proud of our beautiful school,” she said.
ends
For more
information, please contact:
Thabo Mabaso
Group
Communications Manager
PetroSA
Cell:
+27-83-414-8144
Tel: +27-21-929-3365
Email: thabo.mabaso@petrosa.co.za
www.petrosa.co.za