By Libuseng Nyaka
BETHLEHEM – “When you make a promise you incur a debt, and we are here to fulfil our promise.”
These are the words of Sherman Dunn as she delivered a fully equipped kitchen worth R700 000 to Thabang Primary School in the Free State on Friday.
“We created a debt on 14th of June when we were here. The debt that we created was to say we are going to fulfil the building of the kitchen and the deputy minister of basic education Reginah Mhaule challenged us, to say can you ensure that it is done by 1st of December, on the birthday of the deputy minister. We are here to fulfil that promise.”
Giving a brief background on the criteria used, Dunn said Thabang won the 2021 NSNP Awards in the form of a fully flashed kitchen to the value of R700 000.
“We thank Tiger Brands who spent R700 200. We are here to fulfil that promise. When we make a promise we keep it.”
The Deputy Minister of basic education accompanied by Free State Education MEC Dr Tate Makgoe as she officially handed over the kitchen.
“It is such an honour today, that we join the Free State leadership on this important occasion with our partners to officially hand over a state-of-the-art kitchen donated by Tiger Brands Foundation. We are here to highlight the good work that continues to improve the lives of our children and communities. I wish to highlight the significance of the national school nutrition programme which aims to provide meals to our learners, not for their growth but also for the energy for mental and physical activities for the body to function, to be alert and attentive during lessons.”
She said school nutrition is even more significant now due to the challenges of Covid-19 which have affected the health of learners negatively.
“I would like to thank the teachers, community and school governing body here for creating your own good school. You have destroyed the myth that good schools have to be in town.
“It shows that we as black people, we can make a better environment for ourselves. That is why we are very excited. The school did not wait for us to do everything. You went out and used your own budget to enhance the asset. We have a motto in the Free State that we will not allow poverty and lack of resources to define our future.”
The NSNP provides a daily nutritious meal to more than nine million school children across South Africa. The daily meal helps the school children perform better in school.
