A group of friends have created a positive change for education in Limpopo

Credit: Rutegang Organisation

A group of friends saw the desperate need for guidance among matriculants in Limpopo so they started an organisation that is changing lives!

Khomotso Makgae set out to work off-shore on boats that would take him to harbours all over the world. After qualifying for a job he waited for a position to open up. He knew it could take up to a year before finding a placement so instead of sitting idly, he got to work on making South Africa better.

With a group of friends, Khomotso helped set up the “Rutegang Organisation”, dedicated to bettering education in Limpopo. Their very first initiative was to offer guidance to the 2017 Matriculants.

They offered advice on what to do if they failed, what to do if they passed, how to find funding for university, mentorship opportunities and so much more. The group called it their “Life After Matric” project and that was only the beginning…

They started searching for bursaries, job openings and internships to help the matriculants get on their feet. Once they helped them out, they shifted their focus to the teens and children still in school.

At the start of this year, they donated 30 pairs of school shoes to highschool students in need. They distributed them to three different schools in the area. The organisation was quickly alerted to an issue that is spread across South Africa and the world… Lack of sanitary pads.

They started collecting sanitary pads for the young ladies in their surrounding area to make sure they didn’t miss any school time. Today, these donations continue to pour in so they make sure everyone gets a new pair of shoes or sanitary pads when they need them.

Once the matric results came out, they received a shock when one of the schools pass rate was only 51%. Desperate to change this, they launched a tutoring programme to assist learners struggling to get their marks up. In between all this, they did continuous fundraisers and started accumulating enough money to help pay the registration fees of teens heading off to university.

Every single step Rutegang has taken has helped uplift the community and the students within it. In May of this year, they got their official NPO status and can now continue their work even further.