Mvelaphanda Community Skills Development Centre received a cheque of R100 000 from African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) during an event held at the training centre at Tshisaulu last Thursday.

African Rainbow Minerals is the company of mining magnate and president of Mamelodi Sundowns, Mr Patrice Motsepe.

While it is not likely that a rural training centre will get funding from the private sector outside their province, ARM’s executive manager of corporate social investment units, Ms Noluthando Ngema, said her company’s attention is attracted by training centres and projects in the deep rural areas that are addressing the imbalances of the past in terms of skills development. “As a company, we have realised that through the previous regime’s government education system, black people were left out of skills development. We view this as part of poverty alleviation, because it creates employment and puts bread and food on the table of those who were unemployed because they were unskilled,”she said.

Noluthando added that the funding from ARM is reserved for education and training, skills development, HIV and Aids projects and the building of infrastructure in schools of historically disadvantaged communities.

Before approving the funding, Noluthando said that she first visited the project or centre to evaluate the challenges. “When we fund organisations, priority is given to rural institutions where we have a mine as another way of giving back to the community. We want to stamp out what had been happening long ago where mining companies were just interested in mining and less interested in developing the communities,” she said.

According to Noluthando, every financial year, a total of R7 million is allocated to her unit (Social and Investment) for community and nation building. “We are not focusing only on Limpopo, but on all provinces where we have a mine. We are of the view that the majority of our people are unemployed because they lack the variety of skills needed in the corporate world,” she said.

Mvelaphanda specialises in training people in fashion design, business skills, baking and cooking, sewing and motor mechanics. The institution was established in 1990 by Ms Esther Mushathama.

After receiving the cheque, Mushathama described the first funding towards her training centre as a full cost recovery. “We were faced with the challenge of a lack of resources such as computers, sewing machines, ovens for baking and money to pay our debts. This donation came at the right time,” she said. Mushathama thanked ARM for funding her training centre.