Community-manufactured masks are being distributed to learners and teachers in the Mpumalanga province, South Africa, in the fight against the coronavirus.

Multinational mining company Glencore Coal has partnered with Abanqobi, a non-profit women-led organisation, to make 11 000 fabric masks for schools in its host communities in Mpumalanga. To date, 11 schools in the Emalahleni and Steve Tshwete municipalities in the province’s Nkangala district have received the PPE.

Glencore has distributed more than 60 000 masks to its host communities in South Africa since the start of the pandemic and has offered relief programmes such as screening and testing, and supplying water tanks in water-stressed areas as well as food packages and e-learning programmes to support the continued education of learners during the lockdown.

Abanqobi is a part of social-purpose enterprise Re-Action! and supports orphan and vulnerable children and their caretakers in Nkangala. Focusing on skills development, academic empowerment, economic strengthening and overall community upliftment, it holds workshops on manufacturing hand-crafted products, among other things.

13 October 2020
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