Thuli Mashaba was so shocked by the state of schools in rural Mpumalanga that she used up to R300,000 of her own money to build kitchens, sports equipment and drill boreholes.

Mashaba, 41, is a businesswoman who specialises in building toilets in schools that either didn't have any or were using the dangerous pit toilets.

However, she had on many occasions gone the extra mile by ensuring that the numerous schools that she has worked in now have fully equipped kitchens, administration blocks and sports equipment.

Mashaba, a mother of one, said: "I was on a site visit when I realised how dire the situation is at schools. Some schools had no toilets and children would relieve themselves in the field."

She added that during one of her site visits to a primary school she found pupils being served food in the rain because there was no kitchen.

This made the Barberton-born philanthropist realise that many schools needed more infrastructure than just toilets she was hired to build.

Most schools she's worked have no access to water.

Mashaba said her compassion stems from her own experiences growing up as a child in a poor environment.

"The primary schools I attended had pit toilets. I avoided using them at all costs.

"Although we also had pit toilets at home, I preferred them over the school's," Mashaba said.

"The school's toilets were unsafe, unhygienic, infested with insects and sometimes snakes and lizards."

The businesswoman wanted to help improve conditions at some of the schools she gets to visit as a result of her work.

She told Sowetan she decided to go into business because she wanted to end the cycle of poverty in her family.

"I wanted to restore my family's dignity," Mashaba said.

"I remember telling myself: 'I was not born for this, my grandmother was poor, my mother was poor and now me. This has to end, it's stops here, right now. I will not be poor.'"

She said she was unable to go to university because her sponsor pulled out at the last minute when she was supposed to study analytical chemistry at Wits University. Instead, she scrapped together money to go to a college to study for a secretarial and computer skills course, which she could hardly afford.

She studied at Students & Youth (into) Science Technology & Maths (System College) in Mbombela.

"I hitchhiked from Barberton to Nelspruit for a good three months to camp at the principals office and beg for at least the statement of results because although I got my diploma cum laude. I couldn't get it due to outstanding fees," said Mashaba.

This same passion is now being used in her quest to help poor schools with their greatly needed infrastructure.

"I love adding value and leaving a memory. The ability to donate something to the schools I work in is fulfilling," she said.

Principal Conny Mkhabela at Manyeleti primary school in Gothenburg, near Bushbuckridge, said her school had little water since it's in a water-scarce area.

"She donated four gas stoves and a water tank. She also renovated our kitchen.

"The gas stoves are helping us a lot because we are using them during rainy seasons and the tank we use to store water since we are in a deep rural are where water is very scarce," Mkhabela said.