By Staff Reporter
Emalahleni – Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe brought smiles to a number of community members when he visited
the Mthimkhulu Centre and Housing for the Aged in Lynnville, eMalahleni, Mpumalanga.
Mantashes visit come at a time where food, jobs and lack of job opportunities and retrenchment are talk of the country due to the pandemic.
“As the department of Mineral affairs we don’t look only on energy and petroleum but also do care for people. The country is affected by Covid – 19 which has made a number of house holds to have bread winners seen withought jobs and hunger strikes families , how ever as a department we will make sure that we assist in making making sure that there is food on the table”, he said.
The Ministers programme forms part of the Department of Mineral Resources Outreach Programme aimed at empowering mining communities and giving support to the vulnerable groups which are the elderly, youth and persons living with disabilities.
Mthimkhulu Centre is one of the many centres supported and funded by the Department of Social Development and is an initiative of the Witbank Society for the aged which came as a result of the lack of structured services for the previously disadvantaged older persons and persons with disabilities.
The Centre manager Dr Sc Schutte thanked the minister on behalf of the centre on the donations made.
“We are so greatful of the donations made to us, it is a problem to us at times especially in terms of food and feeding our community. This donations made today will assist us that our people will not sleep on empty stomachs”, he said.
The Centre accommodates about 23 beneficiaries on a full-time basis and provides food to 90 people including the elderly and persons living with disabilities on a daily basis.
