Sho Madjozi reaches out to the schools where she grew up

“Sho Madjozi! Sho Madjozi!” chanted the learners as they waited to meet one of their own celebrities, Maya Wegerif - renowned rapper, singer, songwriter, actress and poet famously known as Sho Madjozi - during the #BackToSchool campaign on Wednesday, 1 March. The campaign was hosted by the Hollywood Foundation, in partnership with Sho Madjozi.

The group visited the Shirley Primary School and Djunane Primary School in Waterval, where Sho Madjozi donated free copies of her 35-page book, titled Shoma and the Stars, while the foundation in turn donated R25 000 worth of shoes to each school.

This outreach formed part of the Hollywood Foundation’s focus to bring relief to parents and learners from various communities across South Africa. Last year, the foundation pledged R4 million to the #Back to School campaign.

Asked why Sho Madjozi had chosen to visit these two schools in particular, she answered: “I originally come from this area. Many of these learners only hear about me, so this was a opportunity for me to really rub shoulders with them. Shirley Primary School was my first home, and Djunane Primary is where my little sister attended school. I wanted to give something back to the community.”

Sho Madjozi said her passion lay with little children. “I wrote this book to express my love for little children. This is something especially for them,” she said.

The book is about a girl from a little village in the Limpopo Province and how she navigates her way around, doing things differently and not allowing any situation to change her focus.

Both schools expressed their appreciation for the donations. The shoes, they said, came as a great relief as many learners could not afford proper school shoes. And although they already had some library books, provided by the Department of Basic Education, they were happy to add Sho Madjozi’s books to their collections.

News - Date: 11 March 2023

Bernard Chiguvare

Bernard Chiguvare is a Zimbabwean-born journalist. He writes mainly for the online publication, Groundup.

Email: [email protected]