There was joy on the faces of pupils at Enkanini Primary School in Khayelitsha as they received much-needed new school uniforms which were donated to the school by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) on Tuesday September 1.
Sassa donated 98 school uniforms to the school. Their assistant manager in Khayelitsha, Freddie Sidali, said they don’t want the children to feel different from others because their families cannot afford to buy uniforms.
He said they want them to focus on their studies and perform at their best.
He said their donation totalled R196 000, with R2 000 having been spent on each child.
“We hope that the donation we made here today will boost the morale of both pupils and parents, as some of them may have lacked the confidence to go to school without a school uniform.
“It takes a village to raise a child and through the help of the community and the private sector we’ll be able to produce the best. We always say the future of the country is in the hands of our kids, hence we ought to assist them with uniforms so that they can focus more on education than uniforms. We also urge the members of the community to give a helping hand and it will be easier for these kids to do the same for the future generation,” he said.
Overjoyed acting school principal Vusumzi Gumada said they were grateful and humbled as most of their pupils came from underprivileged communities.
“The donation that we received is going to make a big difference to our pupils and for such a disadvantaged community with a socio-economic background where unemployment is very high the pride of the pupils is going be restored.
“We find pupils coming to school with torn clothes and torn shoes, hence we appreciate this donation as a school.
“I believe that you prepare a young person at an early age so they can be able to handle the future,” he said.
Expressing her gratitude, parent Nomawethu Jaftha said: “We appreciate what Sassa has done for our children because some of them came from child-headed households.”