Decaying South Coast Primary School Given A R420 000 Make-over
For Immediate Release:
19 October 2022
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A KwaZulu-Natal south coast no-fee primary school has been given a new lease of life after critical
funding constraints saw its administration block and classrooms fall into a serious state of disrepair.
However, a recent R420 000 donation by the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT) has
reversed the decay of years, totally transforming Braemar Primary School and restoring the dignity
of staff and learners alike.
The school predominantly serves learners from the historically disadvantaged areas of Braemar,
Inverugie, Sawoti, Dumisa, Kenterton, Jolivet and surrounding environs.
Funding provided by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education is entirely swallowed up in paying
for salaries, utilities, stationery and the like, leaving nothing for maintenance. Equally, the
department has not provided any infrastructural maintenance assistance, resulting in the school
steadily decaying.
Commenting on the make-over during a recent official handover event, SAMCT representative, Mr
Gaff Osman, said: “Our country’s teachers and learners deserve better. A decrepit educational
environment impedes effective teaching and learning. Crumbling school infrastructure impacts
significantly on educational opportunities and must, equally impact on academic performance.”
He added that Braemar Primary School had not been cowed by the state of the school or by the
enormous financial challenges and other barriers it faced, with staff remaining ‘wholly-committed to
delivering the best quality education’ for its learners.
Mr Osman stressed: “The teachers and learners at Braemar Primary School are to be applauded for
not allowing the adversity associated with their physical surroundings, which they have faced for so
long, to get in the way of the curriculum. Being made aware of the parlous state of the school and
the sterling work being done here in spite of the hardships being experienced, the South African
Muslim Charitable Trust was more than willing to lend a hand, providing a sum of R420 000 in order
to bring facilities up to scratch – a move which has reinvigorated all associated with school.”
The SAMCT was created in 2008, the result of a partnership between Old Mutual Unit Trusts and Al
Baraka Bank, for the creation, marketing and distribution of a suite of Shariah Funds.
The South African Muslim Charitable Trust provides funding, services and other resources for the
improvement of the lives of the vulnerable, deprived and disadvantaged. It has been singularly
successful in delivering sizeable assistance solutions throughout South Africa – irrespective of race or
religion – and continues to work to support needy organisations in the fields of social development,
poverty alleviation, healthcare and education.
Mr Osman said: “Poor educational infrastructure in, especially, rural KwaZulu-Natal schools is a
serious obstacle to realising equality in the teaching environment and as long as facility provision
remains so blatantly skewed, it will be extremely difficult to afford affected youngsters opportunities
equal to those enjoyed by learners in urban areas of the province. That this situation remains an
issue after some 28 years of democracy is a tragedy, given that a sound, stable and effective
education is the essential key to the better development of our people, our communities and to
economic progress. Critically, education is fundamental to breaking the cycle of poverty which
pervades South African society.”
“Fortunately, we have amongst us dedicated teachers and willing learners – including those at
Braemar Primary School – who recognise this and display the tenacity necessary to succeed, in spite
of the lack of support for infrastructural maintenance, upgrades and new school development. I, on
behalf of the SAMCT, admire all those at this plucky school for their upbeat approach to an
incredibly challenging situation and to making the best of an untenable situation. It is my hope that
the repairs and renovations with which we have been able to assist will afford teachers and learners
here with a new lease of life going forward.”
ends
For more information about SAMCT, the Braemar Primary School Repairs and Renovations donation and operation, please contact:
Rasheeda Motala
Social Responsibility Officer
Tel: 084 506 2280
Email: samct@samct.co.za