Artists with a mission

A group of young, successful musicians in Vhembe who schooled together have come together and have decided to improve the conditions at their former school.

Recently, hit makers such as Malondolo, Mizo Phyll and Rofhiwa Manyaga, among others, performed at their former school, Beuster Primary outside Thohoyandou, to raise funds for the building of toilets.

The fun-filled day was like a family day, with parents having accompanied their children, who spent the day dancing and playing on the jumping castles. Tendamudzimu Mangoma, one of the coordinators of the project, said he was approached by the school about the poor state of toilets at the school. "I went to the school to see for myself and what I saw was shocking. The toilets are dilapidated and some have collapsed and only two toilets were functional. After a meeting with the artists, we were all in agreement that we should do something for our former school,” he said.

Mizo Phyll, who performed songs from his previous and latest album, said when he was approached he did not think twice but accepted the invitation. "This is where my roots are. I did my formative years here and find no pleasure in seeing my brothers and sisters suffer and risking injury in the bad toilets. We are also excited to be doing something for the community that raised us and made us responsible citizens. This is our humble contribution during Youth Month,” he said.

School principal Tendani Ratshivhanda could not hide her excitement about the development at her school. "This is one of the best things to have happened at our school this year. We have an enrolment of 165 learners and 6 educators, with only two working toilets. This is a burden on us as most of the schooling time is wasted when queuing for a turn at the toilets.”

She further indicated that they receive money from the government, but it is never enough for their needs. "We have other needs here like a playground and a fence and we will accept any initiative that will benefit our school," she said.

SGB chairperson Ndivhuho Tshimausu commended the initiative by the former learners. "We are very grateful for the support we got from the former learners. We are also making an appeal to others who studied here and businesspeople to come on board and assist that we make learning and teaching good at our school," he said.

Date:15 July 2016

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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