Africa-Press – Eswatini. The return of the MTN bushfire has proved to be of great help to the community members of the Lobamba Lomdzala inkhundla.
This was said by most speakers at the Malandelas Legacy fund launch on Friday. Lobamba Lomdzala Indvuna YeNkhundla Mpiya Fakudze said as a community, they had so many families join them before, but none had helped them like the Thorne family.
He thanked the organisers of the festival for the opportunities they had opened for the community, and thanked God for them.
“If they say they will be giving young heroes E15 for every ticket bought, this is really huge for us, because if they sell 8 000 tickets, that is E120 000 going to help the young people of my community,” he said.
He said the festival came with a lot of trading and job opportunities for the people of Lobamba Lomdzala.
Lobamba Lomdzala Member of Parliament Marwick Khumalo said he was very grateful to organisers of the MTN Bushfire for all the work they had done for the people of his community.
“There is a lot that the festival has done for us, from providing platforms for our traders to academic advancement through young heroes,” he said.
Khumalo also stated that the festival provided the community and the country at large with economic empowerment and it attracted vendors of all forms of trade.
“Even though Lobamba Lomdzala has always been known for its market, but the diversion of the highway made marketing slow, but during the festival trading levels are enhanced,” he said.
Niki Mlangeni from Young Heroes said their organisation was currently supporting 37 families with 46 children from Lobamba Lomdzala.
She said they had been in a partnership with MTN Bushfire since 2007, and from 2018 they focused strictly on supporting orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) from Lobamba Lomdzala. “During the COVID-19 times we were able to give out cash grants to meet the families’ basic needs, as COVID-19 relief food hampers worth E110 400 to the 37 families we are supporting,” she said.
She said they had also helped the caregivers of the different families with economic savings and lending groups.
“This was our way to ensure that even though we are not always there, the families must continue to live,” she said.
Mlangeni added that with the savings and cooperation as Young heroes they were able to give them capital of E30 000 to start their income-generating activities.
Further to this the MTN bush fire festival benefits the community taxi owners, as they were regarded as priority for the taxis that would be operating during the festival’s weekend.
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