Malandela’s Legacy Fund benefits Lobamba Lomdzala

By Bongiwe Zwane-Maseko

Various communities rejoiced on Thursday when the Malandela’s Legacy Fund Beneficiary Hand-over took place at House On Fire.

Various community projects in and around the Mahlanya area received a total of E37 927.83 as well as 10 indigenous trees donated by Malandela’s Nursery to provide shade to local vendors for years to come.

The Malandela’s Legacy Fund was launched in 2022, on behalf of the Thorne Family, to honour Peter ‘Malandela’ Thorne and Jenny Thorne. The establishment of the fund acknowledges their lifelong commitment to their guiding philosophy that people and businesses should be actively involved in developing the communities they live in.

This ethos forms the core of the “Bring Your Fire” philosophy of MTN Bushfire, which calls on everyone to support positive social and environmental change.
The Malandela’s Legacy Fund was founded to contribute directly to community development projects in the Lombamba Lomdzala constituency and donates around E40 000 annually to community development projects in Lobamba Lomdzala.

A committee of key members of the Lobamba Lomdzala community help decide which projects will be funded. The Honourable Member of Parliament for Lombamba Lomdzala, and Chairman of the MTN Bushfire Committee, Senator Marwick Khumalo spoke at the hand-over, which was well attended by representatives from the Lobamba Lomdzala Umphakatsi and Mahlanya Market committee.

The Malandela’s Legacy Fund Committee identified the following proposals to support:

Moya Centre

Moya Centre in Mahlanya received E10 000 to support their drive to ensure that children in the area have birth certificates to access schools and government services. Many of these children are identified by Moya Centre’s Psychosocial Support Services in the course of their duties.

“This is one of the very needed interventions in the community. Sometimes we meet children who are over 7 years old and still not at school because they do not have birth certificates. Moya Center help with bus fare money, certificate fees, affidavit fees and fees for the letter from the Umphakatsi,” said Moya Centre Director Nomcebo Makhubu.

In 2022, Moya Center helped 46 children in the area get birth certificates.

The Lojiba Water Project

The Lojiba Water project, a vital community project, received two bicycles worth E5 600 to be used by the maintenance team during their weekly routine, and to attend to emergencies.

Chairman of the Lojiba Water Project Sabelo Magagula noted that “the need has always been in existence, resulting in challenges when executing our day-to-day duties of pipes and fittings maintenance and attending to consumer queries.”

Malandela’s Cyclone FC

The local Malandela’s Cyclone Football Club received E5 900 for registration fees for the Malkerns Promotional League, to support the professionalisation of the team.

The proposal was submitted by Malandela’s Cyclone FC President Theo Howard, who said “Our dream is to see the community members active and working together in sports, building a generation that will be healthy and active in sports and make a better place in our community.”

Mahlanya Market

The Mahlanya Market committee identified the need for a brushcutter to cut the grass in and around the vicinity of the market, to keep the surroundings clean and well-maintained.

The market is the central heart of Mahlanya, and so this will benefit the whole community. In addition, Malandela’s Nursery, operated by All Out Africa, will donate 20 indigenous trees for planting around the market for shade, erosion control and aesthetics.

The brushcutter and associated gear were allocated funding worth E16 427.83.

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