Shigombe Primary voted cleanest school in province

The chairperson of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa in Vhembe, Dr Gulukhulu Mathebula, has called on communities to take their cue from Jilongo village just outside Malamulele. This is where Shigombe Primary School is situated that had won the prize for the cleanest school in Limpopo.

Mathebula, who is very passionate about establishing a clean environment, was speaking during a function where stakeholders at the school were shown the prizes won by Shigombe Primary in a recent cleanliness competition. The school was presented with a certificate and a cheque of R15 000 by the Vhembe District Municipality’s mayor, Cllr Dowelani Nenguda, for being the cleanest school in Vhembe. The school also won R20 000 for being the provincial champions.

Dr Mathebula said that the success of the school should not end there. “You must assist the local village as well as the entire Collins Chabane Local municipality,” he said and added, “a clean environment invites tourists, while unclean surroundings chase them away”.

He mentioned the world-renowned Kruger National Park and said communities neighbouring it should also be clean. “The village [Jilongo] was very clean from the time I was minister in the former Gazankulu homeland. The school is taking its cue from the village, and congratulations to them,” he said.

The local traditional leader, Hosana John Jilongo, praised the management of the school under leadership of principal Ms Julia Mabasa for the achievement. “Both the school management and the school governing body have done us proud. That is the fruit of working in unison with the traditional council. We work as a team, and they also help to keep the village clean,” Hosana Jilongo said.

 Jilongo said this was not the first time the village’s commitment to a clean environment was recognised. “In 1991, our village was chosen as the cleanest by the then Gazankulu government,” he said.

Date:15 April 2023

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.

Read: 1597