Every year on 18 July, Nelson Mandela’s birthday, South Africans are called to contribute 67 minutes of community service to honour Madiba’s legacy and to show their commitment to making the world a better place.
This year, on 18 July 2019, the North-West University (NWU) joined the rest of South Africa in this noble cause. Staff and students took hands in support of the NWU’s alumni office’s initiative by donating shoes and sanitary towels to schools in need.
The NWU’s three alumni offices each donated R5 000 towards purchasing school shoes and sanitary pads. The goods were divided equally across the three campuses, with each campus identifying a school which needs it the most.
The campus in Vanderbijlpark identified Tsoaranang Primary School in Sharpville, and in Mahikeng they decided on Moletsabangwe Primary School in Moletsabangwe. In Potchefstroom Boitirelo Primary School in Ikageng was chosen.
Prof Marilyn Setlalentoa, deputy vice-chancellor on the campus in Mahikeng, also donated a greenhouse garden to Moletsabangwe Primary School which will be used to plant vegetables for the school’s feeding scheme.
Zanele Ngobese, alumni practitioner on the campus in Vanderbijlpark, says these schools deserve all the help they can get. “The children attending these schools really need these items.”
Staff members from the library on the campus in Potchefstroom also joined in the spirit of goodwill and donated gloves, beanies and scarves to Protection Services staff.
“Our outreach theme for this year is ‘Charity begins at home’, and therefore we focus on people on our campus,” says Martin Nokoane from the library. “All the donations came from the heart, thereby thanking Protection Services for their hard work, especially those working in the cold at night.”
Sanitary towels and shoes were donated to Moletsabangwe Primary School in Mahikeng by NWU staff members on Mandela day.
Staff members from the NWU’s campus in Potchefstroom donated shoes and sanitary towels to Boitirelo Primary School in Ikageng.
Learners from Tsoaranang Primary School in Sharpville proudly wear their new school shoes.
