Cape Town - Education was a big winner of this year's Presidential Address Golf Challenge (PAGC) with top businesses donating more than R3 million to the Jacob Zuma Education Trust to help underprivileged children access higher education.
The PAGC is held annually after the State of the Nation Address to raise funds for the charity of the President's choice. According to the Presidency this is done to give effect to government's commitment to promote free educational funding for disadvantaged learners as well as to support service delivery intended to empower the youth.
Participants this year included top business people, politicians and socialites who came together in the small town of Stellenbosch for a game of golf to raise the much needed funds.
Speaking at a gala dinner to thank the sponsors and participants on Friday, President Jacob Zuma said he was encouraged by the huge support this year's event had received. "We are all encouraged by this and I was particularly happy to be told that this year's challenge was oversubscribed and we express a big thanks to all those who have participated as I believe education is very important it's something I'm very passionate about," he said.
Since its inception 13 years ago, The Jacob Zuma Trust has funded thousands of students, mainly from KwaZulu-Natal, who otherwise may not have had an opportunity to enter higher education. This year the trust managed to enroll more than 1200 students to different universities across the country.
Zuma said many of the beneficiaries of his trust were orphans while some came from families with no income.
"Many of them would have led their lives with no confidence...what we saying to these kids is that even if you are in the hardest of circumstances, you can still achieve your goals and what we don't usually tell is the challenge of those who don't get the help which are in numbers."
As main sponsors of this year's event, insurance group Metropolitan and Multichoice both made donations amounting to R1.5 million each.
