The 15 kilometres they had to walk every day to get to school is a thing of the past, with the opening of Mngazi School last month.
The 10-classroom building, which includes a 500-seater multipurpose hall, a workshop and an administrative block, was built with funding from Absa Foundation in response to a request made by Nelson Mandela two years ago.
Michael Mgcotelwa, chief of the Libode district where Mngazi village is situated, says that older learners will also benefit: this is the first local school to offer adult basic education and skills training after school hours. The impact on the community could be significant, with illiteracy rates in the area estimated at around 47%.
Mandela, who attended the school’s opening, took that opportunity to urge local traditional leaders to go back to school, adding that ‘if they [the traditional leaders] are educated, they will not resist transformation. They will not be threatened by democracy.”
The former president also encouraged pupils not to give up on education. ‘I want the first class this year to pass with distinctions. But if you fail, do not be discouraged.” Mandela spoke of his own chequered career as a student at Wits University. ‘I went for my first year, and I failed.
Then I went again, and I passed. I went for my second year, and I failed. Then I went again, and I passed. I went for my third year, and I failed. Then I went again. Eventually I got my degree.”
The Absa Foundation was established in 1994 and focuses on funding community development projects.