The Deputy Speaker, Honorable Mluleki Ndobe visited Siwa Development Centre in Umzimkhulu Local Municipality which cares for ailing senior citizens, orphaned children. The centre provides supporting project aimed at promoting prevention of HIV/AIDS affected, care for the HIV/AIDS infected and support for the orphanage children and accommodation of elderly within community.  

The outreach programme was attended by the deputy Mayor Cllr Nkala, Cllr Shazi and beneficiaries of the NPO. The Deputy Speaker of KZN Legislature donated various goods including linen, food parcels, vanity packs for the senior citizens, goodies packs for the children as well as paint. Due to the challenges the center is facing, Hon Ndobe committed to bringing together the all relevant stakeholder departments in order to assist the centre.  

Indeed, we are an Activist People-centred legislature. 

In a gesture of selfless and charitable leadership, Hon. Nontembeko Boyce (MPL), Speaker of KwaZulu-Natal Legislature has used the occasion of her 44th birthday to donate school uniforms to scores of needy learners in the Ugu District, in the south of the province.

Handing over the items to jubilant learners and teachers, the 44-year-old Speaker explained that she had decided to spend time with needy learners on her birthday because the Legislature valued education and wanted to see all learners attired in a dignified manner.

“As part of our social responsibility programme, we decided to hand over these uniforms. Through this initiative we have already benefited hundreds of pupils in different parts of KwaZulu-Natal. We are providing uniforms because we know that some families face serious financial hardships which make them unable to support their children. In turn, this leads to absenteeism and even dropping out,” added Boyce.

The Speaker described the time spent with underprivileged on her birthday as immensely satisfying.

“History has taught us that it is through giving that we enrich and prolong both our own lives and the lives of others.”

The school principals and parents expressed great appreciation for the kind gesture and wished the Speaker a birthday filled with joy.

“When we heard about the legislature’s social responsibility programme that has been praised in other parts of the province, we never thought it would also come to us. We really want to thank Ms Boyce and the legislature she leads for choosing our school,” said Mbambuya Primary School Principal, Ms Tholakele Memela.

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More than 500 underprivileged learners will now go to school in full uniform thanks to a corporate social responsibility programme run by the Office of the Speaker in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature. The programme, which aims to lessen the burden among the neediest of communities, where the brunt of poverty is most severely felt, is currently being rolled out in different parts of the province. Education stakeholders, including parents and governing bodies have showered the programme with praise, saying that the provision of uniform packs to deserving children would foster a sense of pride and belonging among needier pupils, thus boosting their self-esteem. 

The uniform packs (shoes, socks, trousers, shirts, jerseys and ties) were handed over to schools by the KZN Legislature Speaker, Hon Nontembeko Boyce and her Deputy, Hon Mluleki Ndobe. 

“Our back to school programme which coincided with the start of the 2020 academic year has been a resounding success. When we conceptualized this programme we underestimated the impact, it would have on the recipients and their parents. We are overwhelmed by the positive feedback from parents and teachers of the beneficiaries. It is self-evident that our gesture has had a good bearing on learners’ performance. It is an established fact that absenteeism from school is often attributed to the lack of school uniforms,” said Hon Boyce. 

Boyce also added that the provision of school uniforms to needy learners was also part of the legislature’s education programme of monitoring the functionality of schools. And that the legislature is working closely with the Department of Education to ensure that our schools have enough teachers, adequate infrastructure and are safe environment s for learning and teaching to take place 

Schools that were visited:  

• Umuziwabantu Local municipality:  Hafuleni High school. 
• Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality:  Mkhandi Primary School
• Umzimkhulu Local Municipality: Ibisi Secondary School, Rietvlei Junior Secondary School,  Izwelibanzi Junior Secondary School.   
• Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality: Clairewood Secondary School, Durban South Primary School