Throughout this week, the Durban University of Technology (DUT) started delivering prizes to the six schools who had won the DUT ‘Spring into Summer 2020 Jerusalema Dance Competition’, which was held toward the end of 2020. 

On Tuesday, 02 February 2021, the DUT team began its journey of visiting the different schools from the various parts of KwaZulu-Natal to congratulate and award them for their dedication in putting together exciting Jerusalema dance videos for the competition.

Top on the list was Rippon Primary School in Sydenham which took first position in the primary schools’ category. The school received a R10 000 voucher and a framed certificate meanwhile each member of the team received a branded t-shirt and a R500 book voucher.  

On the same day, the team went to Durban Girls Secondary School, which was number three in the high schools’ category. The school received a R5000 voucher and a framed certificate. Members of the team each received a branded t-shirt.  

Rippon Primary School Deputy Principal, Mr Joel Jason expressed his gratitude to DUT for giving his learners a wonderful opportunity to be part of the DUT Jerusalema Dance competition. 

“We are so proud of the great achievement of coming out tops. We, as the school community at Rippon Primary, are very proud of our learners and we want to also thank them for giving up their time and the enthusiasm that they had for this dance competition. Also, a very big thank you to our teacher, Mr Ngcobo who gave up so much of his time and also his expertise to assist our learners to come out first in this competition. We are very proud of him and we say a big thank you to DUT for this competition which they have come up with. It was indeed a great pleasure to have been part of this competition,” said Jason.  

Rippon Primary teacher who was leading the winning team, Mr Mfundo Ngcobo said he was ecstatic when he heard that his school has won the competition as they had put on so much effort in producing the winning video.  

“I am the teacher who was behind the choreography and the directing of the video. I know what it took to make this happen. It was a great opportunity and it was a great experience for the learners to get such exposure to showcase their talents. Thank you to DUT and, we as Rippon Primary school, we are over the moon,” said Ngcobo.  

Expressing her appreciation to DUT, Durban Girls Secondary Principal, Dr Marge Bhagowat said she was so proud of her girls who showed that they are super talented.  

“What makes the honour even greater is the fact that we had COVID-19, they were dealing with that kind of crisis, dealing with school work and preparing for exams. In spite of all this they managed to participate in the competition and coming third was great,” said Dr Bhagowat.  

DUT’s Student Recruitment Manager, Mr Alex Mdletshe said on behalf of DUT and the four departments that were directly involved in this project which are Community Engagement, Development and Advancement and Alumni Relations, Marketing and Student Recruitment, he would like to thank all the schools that participated in the competition and congratulated the winners in both categories of primary and high schools. 

“During the challenging and devastating time of dealing with a pandemic, we are delighted that this competition brought fun and entertainment to the DUT community and participants. As a caring university we will continue to direct our efforts toward changing lives,” said Mdletshe.  

On Wednesday, 03 February 2021, the team delivered prizes to Vusukukhanya Primary School in Inanda, which was number three in the primary schools’ category. The school received a R5000 voucher and a framed certificate. Members of the team each received a branded t-shirt. Another visit was made to Strelitzia Secondary School in Isipingo which took first position in the high schools’ category. The school received a R10 000 voucher and a framed certificate, meanwhile each member of the team received a branded t-shirt and a R500 book voucher. 

Today, Thursday, 04 November 2021, the DUT team is heading to KwaZulu-Natal Midlands in Pietermaritzburg to Berg Street Primary School which came out second in the primary schools’ category. The school will receive a R8000 voucher and a framed certificate. Each team member will receive a branded t-shirt and a R300 book voucher.  

Delivering of prizes will end on Friday, 05 February 2021 with the team heading to Port Shepstone to Olwandle High School, which came out second in the high schools’ category. The school will receive a R8000 voucher and a framed certificate. Each team member will receive a branded t-shirt and a R300 book voucher. 

Pictured: Mr Michael Zulu from DUT’s Student Recruitment department, Rippon Primary School teacher, Mr Mfundo Ngcobo, Rippon Primary Deputy Principal, Mr Joel Jason and Ms Pretty Zulu from DUT’s Advancement and Alumni Relations department. 

Second picture: Mr Michael Zulu from DUT’s Student Recruitment department, Durban Girls Secondary Principal, Dr Marge Bhagowat and Ms Pretty Zulu from DUT’s Advancement and Alumni Relations department.  

Simangele Zuma