Soweto churches and schools in seventh heaven over donations

Source: Sowetanlive, by Penwell Dlamini

Churches and schools in Soweto were in seventh heaven when they received donations from the Motsepe Foundation on Tuesday.

The big occasion was held in the Regina Mundi Church in Soweto and was attended by billionaire Patrice Motsepe and his leadership in the foundation.

One of the beneficiaries was the Orlando West Methodist Church situated along the famous Vilakazi Street which received R150‚000 from the Motsepe Foundation.

Reverend Nomsa Nomqolo from the church explained how the congregation felt about the donation.

“We are very happy with the donation that we received from the Motsepe Foundation. When we say God visits His people‚ we are talking about times like these. We have received grace from God to get this donation. We have been struggling to do the things that we will be able to do them now‚ since we have received the donation‚” said Nomqolo.

“We are going to fix the ablution block which is not in a good state. Our church is part of the heritage of Orlando because we are on Vilakazi Street. People come to see the church but the church situation is dire. This donation will enable us to fix the ablution block and also the roof with has been leaking for some time.

“When tourists visit Vilakazi Street‚ they also come to our church to see the inside and worship with us. Through the donation we will be able to make the church friendly and habitable‚” said Nomqolo.

She said the church had tried to fix the ablution block but the material which had been bought for this was all stolen.

Siyabonga Secondary School in Braamfischerville‚ Soweto‚ also received a R150‚000 donation.

“We feel blessed as the school. We introduced IT (information technology) as a subject to our learners but our lab was not up to scratch. We will sort out our computer lab and our shelter for our learners because we do not have a hall. We have 1‚800 learners and the shelter that we have for the morning assembly and events is not big enough‚” Gavin Mofokeng‚ principal of the school‚ said.

The school has never had a hall since it was opened in 2010.

The Motsepe Foundation donated R8.5-million to various churches and schools as part of the initiative which is also conducted in other provinces in the country.