A FORMER health worker has turned a dumping site that was a health hazard to residents of Ikageng into a viable agricultural project.
Charmaine Seenyane, who manages the project, was one of North West heroes and heroines honoured on Friday at Kwa-Maritane Hotel in Pilanesberg for their work in helping to empower communities.
Her project - the Tsomang Lefatshe Agricultural Cooperative - won a R50,000 prize in the Income Generation (Best Practice Model) category.
Seenyane, 37, said her cooperative would now be able to buy more vegetable seeds and employ more people. "I am going to use the money to expand the business and hire more unemployed people in my township," she said.
Seenyane resigned from her nursing job in 2008 to start the project. "I decided to plant vegetables on the periphery of what was used as an illegal dumping site in Ikageng," she said.
The project was established to generate an income for unemployed women and youth of Ikageng through selling vegetables.
The organisation also invests part of its profit on vulnerable groups in the area.
Other provincial winners included Grace Help Centre, Potchefstroom Service Centre for the Aged and the Rekopantswe Sewing Cooperative.
North West MEC for social development, women, children and people with disabilities Mosetsanagape Mokomele-Mothibi described the winners as courageous people who worked selflessly to improve the lives of others.
The awards recognise community workers for their outstanding work and sacrifice, irrespective of race, colour or creed, to build a South Africa that truly belongs to all.
Districts, including Ngaka Modiri Molema, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, Bojanala and Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati competed in four categories: Social Welfare Best Practice Model, Social Welfare (Emerging Projects), Income Generation (Best Practice Model) and Income Generation (Emerging Projects).
Winners received certificates, while the overall winners received a prize of R50000.
Heroes, heroines honoured
A FORMER health worker has turned a dumping site that was a health hazard to residents of Ikageng into a viable agricultural project.
Charmaine Seenyane, who manages the project, was one of North West heroes and heroines honoured on Friday at Kwa-Maritane Hotel in Pilanesberg for their work in helping to empower communities.
Her project - the Tsomang Lefatshe Agricultural Cooperative - won a R50,000 prize in the Income Generation (Best Practice Model) category.
Seenyane, 37, said her cooperative would now be able to buy more vegetable seeds and employ more people. "I am going to use the money to expand the business and hire more unemployed people in my township," she said.
Seenyane resigned from her nursing job in 2008 to start the project. "I decided to plant vegetables on the periphery of what was used as an illegal dumping site in Ikageng," she said.
The project was established to generate an income for unemployed women and youth of Ikageng through selling vegetables.
The organisation also invests part of its profit on vulnerable groups in the area.
Other provincial winners included Grace Help Centre, Potchefstroom Service Centre for the Aged and the Rekopantswe Sewing Cooperative.
North West MEC for social development, women, children and people with disabilities Mosetsanagape Mokomele-Mothibi described the winners as courageous people who worked selflessly to improve the lives of others.
The awards recognise community workers for their outstanding work and sacrifice, irrespective of race, colour or creed, to build a South Africa that truly belongs to all.
Districts, including Ngaka Modiri Molema, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, Bojanala and Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati competed in four categories: Social Welfare Best Practice Model, Social Welfare (Emerging Projects), Income Generation (Best Practice Model) and Income Generation (Emerging Projects).
Winners received certificates, while the overall winners received a prize of R50000.