adminThis initiative was a community-driven project aimed at developing Sanzukwi Secondary School and the community.
The community was able to raise finances for this project by holding a bicycle race fundraising programme that saw the community collecting funds to buy paints and replace broken windows.
A number of rural communities have taken this initiative of using their own resources to enhance development in their areas. They have conducted projects such as building community clinics, building classroom blocks and repairing bridges among others.
A member of the Sanzukwi community, Mr Ishmael Ncube, said the community had decided to carry out the school project in order to provide an improved learning environment for pupils.
He said the community had realised that improving the school’s state would motivate the pupils.
“We came up with a fundraising project to develop Sanzukwi Secondary because we realised that it was our duty to ensure that our children have a proper learning environment. We want our children to remain motivated to attend school.
“Many children are dropping out of school and they assume going to South Africa in pursuit of employment is the solution, which is not. Jobs are now hard to find and besides you can only get a job if you are educated and we therefore want to revive their passion for education,” said Mr Ncube.
The village head for the area, Mr Kenneth K Lukuta, said the project of developing the school was one among several which had been initiated by the community of Sanzukwi.
He said the community wanted to depart from the dependency syndrome where they had to wait for the Government and other organisations to initiate development programmes.
“We want to gradually move away from the dependency syndrome. We want to dictate the pace of development in our community rather than wait for officials to do it for us.
“As a community we may need the government’s intervention once in a while but we do not want to be cry babies that will be constantly calling on the government to offer assistance in order for us to realise development within the community,” he said.
Mr Lukuta said the community had come to identify with the school since it was built in 2009 as they realised the difference it had brought to the community.
“Before the school was built three years back, our children had to walk 12 kilometres to get to the nearest school. This demotivated a lot of children and caused unwanted pregnancies. But now the school is in our ward where we have our houses and we have identified with it.
“We want to improve the appearance of the school and stamp out the tide of immigration of our young children who are going to neighbouring countries before completing their education but rather have them attend their local schools,” he said.
Mr Lukuta said apart from the school, the community had previously embarked on other projects.
“We have had other projects that have been initiated by the community and have assisted in developing our area. There is a community feedlot that is managed by the community. We feed our own cattle as a community and we sell them at our own price.
“There is a community warehouse and a clinic which are projects that the community was actively involved in carrying out. We will continue further with this initiative of channelling community development projects,” said Mr Lukuta.
Sanzukwi Secondary School head Mr Mbusi Moyo said the community had made good efforts in developing the school.
“Parents in the community realised that there was a need in the school and they took this initiative of developing the school. They bought 13, 20 litre buckets of paint with the money they fundraised.
“They were able to paint all the three classroom blocks which the school has, toilets and the five cottage staff houses. They also replaced 14 broken window panes in the school which has improved the state of the school,” he said.
“Children are tomorrow’s assets and the community of Sanzukwi appears to have appreciated this. The community has two primary schools namely Kwezi and Sanzukwi. Before the school was built, pupils who completed Grade Seven at these schools relied on Sangulube in Brunapeg and Ngwizi in Bhulu.
“These schools could not accommodate all pupils as they are situated in other communities with their own primary schools. As a result those pupils who could not afford boarding school had to sit at home after completing Grade Seven,” he said.
Mr Moyo said since the building of the school, this situation had improved, which was a positive development in the community.
He said the school still needed more classroom blocks as the number of pupils that were enrolling in the school was ever increasing and there was a need for the school to accommodate more pupils from the area.
Parents from Sanzukwi community working in South Africa who are part of Mose, a development group, organised a 45 kilometre cycle race within the community on 31 December. The race was held at Sanzukwi Business Centre in Mangwe.
The winner of the race received a bicycle. Other competitors received prizes which comprised blankets and groceries.
The community used funds raised during the race to buy equipment for developing the school.
Mangwe Rural District Council chief executive officer, Mr Nketa Mangoye Dlamini, said the efforts by the community were commendable as the concept of development in rural communities required people to complement the efforts of various stakeholders.
“The general concept of development in Mangwe is that communities stand up and do things for themselves, obviously with assistance from the local authority and other relevant institutions.
“The Sanzukwi community through assistance from parents in South Africa, led by Mose, came up with the idea of holding a bicycle race. This was part of fund-raising and encouraging community participation. Part of the proceeds were then utilised to purchase paint,” he said.
Mr Dlamini said communities should continue with a self-drive mindset as it was key in realising development. He said communities had to stop expecting to receive free handouts in order for them to realise development.
“It is in the spirit of a self-drive mindset that communities can initiate programmes such as that in Sanzukwi. It is the only way the community can ensure sustainable development in our rural areas.
“The concept or approach of free handouts is long gone and must just be kept in our history as a sad and unfortunate occurrence. It was just creating a syndrome of laziness within communities and it is unfortunate because some communities are still holding onto that syndrome,” he said.
Mr Dlamini said communities had to further these community initiated programmes and also identify other areas which required development.
“We encourage the community of Sanzukwi as well as other communities to analyse their wards and pick out crucial or priority areas of development and discuss as a community the way forward.
“The local authority is there to facilitate all necessary developments and other stakeholders are there to assist communities where they need help. But the people have to channel development in their communities,” he said.
Online Reporter