Graduation celebrated

Lebohang Moshoaliba, who was assisted with a bursary by the office of the executive mayor of the Dihlabeng Local … A total of 53 students were assisted with bursaries to further their studies in their respective academic fields.

Lebohang Moshoaliba, who was assisted with a bursary by the office of the executive mayor of the Dihlabeng Local Municipality, is a living testament to that.

Moshoaliba is one of the students who received a bursary from the local municipality to study Agriculture at the Glen College a few years ago. He is currently working at the Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality as the manager of Agriculture.

Apparently, he was appointed last month after he had worked as the agricultural officer in the Local Economic Development (LED) Office of Dihlabeng.

The outgoing executive mayor, Tjhetane Mofokeng, whose term comes to an end in August, is happy to leave the mayoral office with stories like that of Moshoaliba to tell.

During his term, he prioritised, among others, education through the National Development Plan (NDP).

A total of 53 students were assisted with bursaries to further their studies in their respective academic fields. On Friday (08/04), a mayoral bursary graduation ceremony was held at the Tiisetsang Secondary School Hall to celebrate the success of the realisation of the NDP 2013 goals through education.

Mofokeng said he was happy that students who had participated in the NDP never disappointed, hence they were celebrating their success.

He said their achievement was thanks to the contribution of many factors, including business people who had been always ready to help.

Under his leadership, Mofokeng saw his municipality registering a 92% matric pass rate to secure the first spot in the district.

“When we entered into a marriage with the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Qwaqwa Campus a few years ago, I received criticism from some of my colleagues, because the university at that time was involved in a racism scandal. People ask me if I wanted to risk my political career by associating with the university,” he said.

He said he did not regret his decision to join hands with the UFS, because it had borne sweet fruit.

“A few years back we had a meeting to check what we could do to realise the goals of the NDP. We localised it and prioritised education,” he said.