By Mandisa Tselane
As we come to the end of a year in which we as a country and a planet have had to face the unprecedented challenges forced upon us by COVID-19, this is the perfect time for us to reflect, recharge and reset.
Despite the trials of the pandemic, 2020 has been an exciting and productive year at Kagiso Trust.
We bid farewell to the Reverend Frank Chikane as chairperson of the Kagiso Trust board after six fruitful years and welcomed Mankone Ntsaba as she took over the chair.
In his annual review, Rev Chikane spoke of how Kagiso Trust was at the “cutting edge” in terms of how it worked with the Fourth Industrial Revolution upon us. We saw this year how COVID-19 accelerated our response in this regard as we adjusted all our programmes to take into account the safety and protocols. We look forward to having Rev Chikane remain as an active and passionate board member.
The Education Conversations and the Property Entrepreneur Accelerator Programme (PROPreneurX) master classes were hosted virtually. We launched the Kagiso Radio Teachers programme in Limpopo to ensure learners could “attend” lessons given on local radio stations.
We also saw the critical role played by civil society organisations during the lockdown. Food parcels were distributed to those worst affected, we hosted two round tables in October where community-based organisations shared their experiences, fears and needs. We saw how communities demonstrated resilience and drew strength from each other. The Makana Circle of Trust remains a beacon of light.
Our purpose is to overcome poverty and through our programmes, we have positively impacted the development of education and witnessed the success of our socio-economic and institutional capacity building programmes. We celebrated the launch of the Tyala Fund, and the first harvest of the SED farming programme, which empowered communities and created employment. We had the first of the PROPreneurX graduates, Bonolo Gueye, share her experience of the programme, and tell us how it had helped her
Most importantly, as the year draws to an end, we would like to convey a big Thank You to all our partners, stakeholders and sponsors. It was not an easy year, but through our collaborative efforts, we have been able to fulfil our vision of developing a prosperous, peaceful, equitable and just society. Thank you for all the engagement on our social media platforms, sharing your ideas and cheering us on.
On behalf of all of us at Kagiso Trust, we wish you a happy, peaceful and a safe festive season.
