Kwaggafontein– “This school is more than 35 years old and no renovations were ever done until now.”
These words were echoed by Jan Motau, the chairperson of the school governing body (SGB) and a former learner of Mphalali Secondary School, where renovations and cleaning work brought smiles and tears of joy to many.
“We never thought it could look this beautiful. But now we must protect it. We plead with learners to stop vandalising the school. Drug use, especially weed smoking, is a big problem and often leads to damage. We need the community to help us protect our school.”
The school, located in Thembisile Hani Local Municipality, received renovations from the Mpumalanga Department of Education as part of its Rhandza Xikolo Xa Wena campaign launched in 2022. The department is encouraging everyone to take ownership of their schools and to help learners dream bigger.
Motau said the school aspires to become a technical school. “Give us tools so learners can enjoy coming to school and be interested in learning.”
Mpumalanga MEC for Education, Lindi Masina, praised the discipline and respect displayed by Mphalali’s learners. She challenged the grade 12 learners to aim for a 95% pass rate, with more than half their marks above 50%.
“We are proud of the changes happening here. This campaign is about building safe schools through partnerships with parents, teachers, and the whole community. We hope parents will even volunteer to clean classrooms. This is their school too,” added Masina.
The Executive Mayor of Thembisile Hani, Lesetja Dikgale, said: “Education is one of our key pillars. We want our municipality to be known as a centre of academic excellence. We must guide our young people away from drugs, alcohol, and unhealthy distractions. This journey to success has started, and we must protect our schools at all cost.”
Among the excited learners was grade 12 learner, Siphesihle Nkosi, who said: “This motivates us. We see that the MEC, Executive Mayor and the community at large care about us and our future. If the government and community are doing their part, then we, as learners must also do our part. I want to pass and make my school proud.”
