Learners in flood stricken municipality receive uniform

Sunday, May 19, 2019

Learners and parents from disadvantaged families under the Umzumbe Local Municipality were overjoyed when they received new school uniform the Social Development Department.

The distribution of school uniform is part of the department and the South African Social Security Agency’s Social Relief of Distress (SRD) programme - a temporary grant intended for families and households experiencing undue hardships.

The SRD may be in the form of a food parcel, voucher or school uniform, which is procured through local cooperatives as a way of stimulating local economic development, particularly in poor communities such as Umzumbe.

Speaking on behalf of over 300 learners who benefitted from the SRD programme, Sibongiseni Nzuza thanked Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, who handed over the uniform, saying it will help to restore the dignity of learners from disadvantaged families.

Nzuza said that the brand new school uniform gives the children a sense of belonging and that they will no longer feel out of place at school as they will all look like their peers.

Each of the over 300 learners received a full school uniform, comprising one pair of shoes, a jersey, tie, five vests, tracksuit, three pants/skirts, three shirts, three pairs of socks and five sets of underwear.

Bogopane-Zulu said Umzumbe Local Municipality is one of the poorest in the province of KwaZulu-Natal and the provision of school uniform is an intervention to ensure that learners from disadvantaged families remain in school.

“Learners from poor households should not be made to feel inferior to their peers at school, as the only way of breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty is through education,” said the Deputy Minister.

The distribution of school uniform by the Deputy Minister comes as a timely intervention following the recent floods that ravaged communities in the area.

“The intervention will go a long way to assist affected families and restore normalcy. The school uniform was procured from local cooperatives to the tune of R557 512, 00,” said Social Development spokesperson Lumka Oliphant. – SAnews.gov.za