Sacred Heart Secondary School is currently using an old infrastructure since it was established in 1886 as part of a Roman Catholic Mission school for indigenous local primary school children. The Dominican Sisters of Oakford took it over shortly after that. In 1903, the owners of the property and the Oakford Sisters established St Mary’s as another girls’ school for Whites on the same estate. In 1980, St Mary’s was closed, and the SHSS for African girls was relocated to St Mary’s premises, where it remains today.
With the background mentioned above, the school operates under a very aged infrastructure. It comes with no surprise that many infrastructural items (leaking roof, blocking plumbing system, etc.) require urgent attention. However, it has become apparent that it has become unaffordable for parents to enrol their girls in boarding in the current economic climate. Ms Lucy Hlongwa, one of the board of trustees for Sacred Heart Trust, said, “on behalf of the Trustees of The Sacred Heart Trust, staff and learners, we wish to express our heartfelt and sincere gratitude, and appreciation to Cashbuild for the generous sponsorship towards the revamp of our boarders’ kitchen and repairs to its roof. Our kitchen staff now prepare all boarders’ meals in a hygienic, safe and conducive environment. We pride ourselves on our newly refurbished kitchen and its fittings. All this was made possible through the donation of hardware and financial support that we received from Cashbuild. Thank you once again for your company’s contribution towards the betterment of one of our much-needed hostel facilities. We will forever be indebted to your company and its management.”
Cashbuild made a generous donation to the value of R143 650. Head of Community Support Initiatives at Cashbuild, Thembelani Tukwayo, says education is an essential tool to ensure the long term sustainability of communities where we trade. “Through a programme called Art@Heart, we have been investing in education for many years. Our investment aims to ensure that the education infrastructure in these schools is conducive to learning, and with Sacred Heart, we are taking the same approach,” says Mr Tukwayo. “The Trust itself is led by highly competent professionals who want to ensure their alma mater continues to produce individuals that will contribute to the development of society as a whole. We are excited that we are partnering with them in this project.” To date, Cashbuild has spent R40 Million improving schools infrastructure. The company’s flagship project is in partnership with Old Mutual, where we have jointly invested over R5 Million in upgrading schools in the Jane Furse area of Limpopo.
