Tau e Tshehadi@D_Molatoli
I once lived in Mpumalanga, Kinross, Secunda for one year, in 2012. While I was there, I tried to get involved in Community projects. One project was a "Community garden" in a school yard, started by a Primary school teacher, the aim being to teach her learners how to plant and grow vegetables. Later, the kids' parents were invited to get involved in tending the garden, weeding, watering, and then allowed during weekends after doing the work, we would take some spinach, carrots, pumpkins home. This was a way of putting some food on the table and alleviating hunger.
The teacher had sought permission from the school Principal to use the piece of land.
The teacher's husband was a Sasol employee, he held a senior position at Sasol. He was very supportive to his wife, bought water pipes and watering cans, seeds, whatever was needed, he just sponsored the project from their pockets.
There was an informal settlement emerging around the school, so the parents of these kids came from that informal settlement. When I came on board, I saw potential for the mothers who were part of the project to organize themselves into a Cooperative. I wanted them to own the project when I leave, since I wasn't going to be there for long. At the time I still believed in the government promise of supporting Cooperatives. So I thought maybe they could get support from government too.
Sasol, through the teacher's husband, heard about the project and were entertaining the idea of assisting from their CSI with some resources, a possible borehole, and grow the project to a point where they could supply one or two of their kitchens with vegetables. It was early stages, but it had potential.
Then, the Chairperson of the SGB, who happened to also be an ANC Women's league Chair in the area, and a girlfriend of the principal, heard about the Sasol offer. Suddenly there was interest because they thought money was coming. She called me and some of the ladies from the project to talk. In the meeting she suggested to us that she would like to report on this project as an ANC Women's League initiative. I was like what?? 😂 I said no ways, this is a community project, it has nothing to do with any political party or affiliation to anyone.
To cut the long story short, the project was then sabotaged, the teacher was harassed, told to present in every SGB meeting about the "funds received from Sasol". There were no funds. We were called "outsiders" not welcome on the school premises. I used to run at the time, just for exercise. My heart would bleed when I go for my runs, passing the school and seeing those cabbages rotting there. They had no decency to at least let the parents to come and harvest those vegetables.
I left Secunda later that year, only to receive a call that one of the ladies who was in the leadership of the project had died of a heart attack. I couldn't attend the funeral, but I was sad and angry. 😏