Years before he could even think that he might one day be the first citizen of Vhembe district, Cllr Phillemon Mdaka took it upon himself to assist needy students in furthering their education.

Many of those he assisted have since completed their studies and are now making a meaningful contribution to society.

After his deployment as mayor of Vhembe, he became instrumental in the establishment of the mayor’s bursary fund which is now helping many students in the district. Only last week he pledged to help two children of Cllr Annah Maluleke, who recently passed on.

Mdaka told the mourners during the funeral of councillor Anna Maluleke, that she might be dead, but her two children would be looked after and their education would not suffer. The eldest daughter of the councillor, Hope (19), had told the executive mayor that she would be forced to drop out of college as her mother was the only person who was financing her studies at Ekurhuleni West College where she is a second-year engineering student. “Our mother was everything to us. Life will be very difficult without her,” she said.

Mdaka told them to dedicate themselves to their studies as he would see to it that they went to school. “We do not want you to swell the ranks of those roaming the streets with nothing to do because they are not educated and do not have the necessary skills needed in the job market. We will anything possible to help you,” he said.

“Their mother was a dedicated cadre who worked selflessly to improve the lot of our people. As a fulltime activist who worked for the people and had nothing for her family to fall back on, comrade Annah was a diligent woman and we have to repay her by supporting her children,” he said.