MPHEPHU - "We cannot build the future of our youth, but we can build the youth to the future," said former president Nelson Mandela during the official opening of Mphephu High School on Tuesday this week.

The school was one of the many community projects handled by New Africa Investment Limited (Nail). In 2000 the Tshivhase Foundation Development Trust linked with Nail through the Minister of Local Government and Economic Affairs, Mr Sydney Mufamadi, who took the foundation's proposal of building more classrooms for the school further by presenting it to the former president Nelson Mandela.

The former president was thus instrumental in the donation of R10 million of which R5 million was allocated for revamping Mphephu High while the other R5 million was utilised to build classrooms for Tshivhase High School.

Nail built 20 classrooms, one administration block, site works, and a block of toilets including sewerage, water reticulation and electrical installation. The project was co-ordinated by the Limpopo Department of Education and all the respective community organisations.

Mandela said that he needed the princes and princesses of the local traditional leaders to be part of his scholarship. Traditional leaders must co-operate with the democratic government, so that they will move with changes occurring in South Africa," said Mandela.

The school principal, Mr Peter Lukhwareni, said he was happy and appreciated the gesture by both Nail and the Tshivhase Foundation Development Trust to invest in the school. "This will improve the culture of learning and teaching in the Nzhelele area," he said.

He concluded by saying, "Mphephu High School has 1 106 learners who will from now on receive lessons in an excellent environment."

In last year's matriculation examinations, Mphephu High managed a 61% pass rate. The former president congratulated the school for this achievement, given the fact that both learners and teachers had to endure adversity to realise this feat.