Soweto – Recovering drug addicts and underprivileged young people in Pimville, Soweto, received bicycles which will be used to deliver bread for a bakery.
Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu today donated 15 bicycles to a company called Sakheni Ezweni, which runs a bakery. The company also empowers young people from underprivileged backgrounds who are affected by social ills such as drug and alcohol abuse.
As part of Minister Zulu’s Mandela Day programme she spent her afternoon with young people who are fighting drug abuse.
She encouraged the youth to stop doing drugs as it will destroy their lives and future.
“We need to assist young people to kick the habit [of drugs], it’s a devastating habit,” Minister Zulu said.
She said young people should not use the excuse of having a difficult childhood as a reason to do drugs.
Minister Zulu said the government was doing everything that it could through its various departments to stop young people from taking drugs.
The Department of Small Business Development agreed to assist Sakhile Ezweni because the company was giving back to the community of Soweto.
“What I like about them is that they were not selfish….they identified young people who were struggling with substance abuse and they identified it was possible to clean them up and get them into the business,” Minister Zulu said.
Earlier in the Day, Minister Zulu was at the Bantu Bonke Agricultural Cooperative in Meyerton, Midvaal, where she assisted the cooperative in cleaning, planting and donated seeds as part of her Mandela Day programme.
“Mandela Day must not be about sitting and moaning and wishing for something that is not happening,” Minister Zulu said.
She said Mandela Day was about giving back to those less fortunate.
The world celebrates Madiba's birthday on 18 July as it was declared by the United Nations in 2009 as Nelson Mandela International Day.
Mandela Day is an initiative dedicated to giving back to those less fortunate, the vulnerable and marginalised in society.
The day also actively encourages service to others, just as Madiba did when he gave many years of his life in service to humanity. – SAnews.gov.za
