Computers to help the pupils of Vela Langa
DEPARTMENT of Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu boosted education by handing over 20 computers to Vela Langa High School in Lower Didimana, Whittlesea, on Saturday.
The computers will be used by pupils during the day and by community members in the late afternoon.
Sisulu said a computer lab would be built and training was to be provided by the department.
A contractual agreement was read and signed between the community and the department on how the equipment would be used.
The minister said underprivileged pupils who passed matric would be awarded scholarships.
“We are here to show you that the ANC government cares for village people.”
Sisulu was approached by Lower Didimana community members in Port Elizabeth while campaigning for the local government elections.
“The community members complained about a lack of infrastructure in their area, including no community halls, police stations and libraries.”
Pensioners also needed a place to collect grants.
Sisulu said: “The department wants to bring the Centre for Information Technology and Architecture (CITA) to train the men and the women of the community.”
She said her village, Quthubeni in Ngcobo, was without electricity and had poor road conditions.
“The ANC government says we must have radical economic transformation. Economic transformation is not going to start with the wealthiest but with the poorest of the poor. This is why I came, because the life I live in Johannesburg is not the same as the one I live here. We cannot have increased inequality between the rich and poor.”
She commended the Lower Didimana community for taking the responsibility of working with government in order to get themselves out of poverty.
Safety and Liaison MEC Weziwe Tikana and Enoch Mgijima Municipal Community Service portfolio head Zukiswa Ralana attended the event.