Mamelodi-based bus company Mamelodi Transport Solutions (MATRANS) blessed various needy residents of Mamelodi and Tshwane in general with goodies on Mandela Day this past Friday.
This initiative was led by MATRANS’ Chairperson Stemmer Monageng and Deputy Chairperson Ben Maredi.
Members of MATRANS’ Executive Committee were also in attendance and they took part in activities carried out by MATRANS to the needy residents.
MATRANS’ campaign started at Balebogeng Primary in Mamelodi East where MANTRANS donated paints and brushes and its members actively dirtied their hands by literally helping in painting the wall of the school.
Thereafter the group divided itself into two groups, with one heading to Marabastad to serve hot soup and bread to the homeless there, while the other went to Silver Lakes to do the same to the hungry job-seekers there.
MATRANS’ Deputy Chairperson Ben Tupudi Maredi told Tshwane Talks that their purpose at Balebogeng Primary School was to paint the school in line with the spirit of the late statesman Nelson Mandela who served South Africa with distinction.
“As MATRANS it is important that we plough back into the community because members of the community are the ones using our buses and we want the community to see our importance regarding community upliftment issues and to also show the community that we are keeping them in mind as we manage to pay our installments because of their support,” said Maredi.
He revealed that his organisation Mamelodi Amalgamated Taxi Association (MATA) together with SA Taxi hand a minibus taxi to a disabled person on that selfsame Mandela Day.
“We feel it is right to give this disabled person a minibus taxi as he can’t make ends meet due to his disability status and he is going to use the minibus taxi to transport learners to school,” explained Maredi.
“The disabled person first contacted SA Taxi, then SA Taxi contacted MATA so that both organisations can jointly contribute towards purchasing the minibus for the disabled person,” he said.
Regarding serving job-seekers with soup and sandwiches at Silver Lakes, Maredi said while driving around the area, they always see large numbers of apparently hungry job-seekers at street corners.
“It is painful to imagine that many of them walked long distances without lunch money to come to the spot where they would wait with the hope that someone would offer them employment, only to end up not being hired at all and being compelled to return home empty-handed and hungry,” he said.
“So out of respect for Mandela Day, we decided to serve them with hot soup and sandwiches,” said Maredi.
Parents of Balebogeng primary school clean windows photo by Dimakatso Modipa
Mamelodi Amalgamated Local and Long Distance Taxi Association ( MALLDTA) chairperson Stemmer Monageng, who is also chairperson of the board of Directors of MATRANS, told Tshwane Talks that they decided to observe their 67 minutes of Mandela Day at Balebogeng Primary School and pointed out that some members of his organisation were dispatched to the Marabastad area as well as the taxi rank in the CBD to hand out toiletries and foodstuffs to needy people and to also clean up the rank.
“In conjunction with the Mamelodi West Police Station, we managed to roll out sanitary pads and roll-ons especially for the boys that they can smell nice,” enthused Monageng.
He also thanked his employees for always carrying out their duties with love and dignity.
“I wanna thanked the MATRANS for the donation and our wall will look beautiful and bright and it will make learners to have positive thoughts,” Balebogeng primary school principal Mrs Khoza said.