Mohloai Mpesi
QUTHING business tycoon, Bothata Mahlala, will on Saturday launch a charity foundation through which he will help vulnerable communities throughout the country.
The Bothata Mahlala Development Foundation (BMDF) will be launched at a black-tie event at Avani Lesotho Hotel. It promises to be a night of glitz and glamour under the Foundation’s black and gold theme.
At a precursor press briefing in Maseru on Tuesday to announce the launch of the Foundation, Mr Mahlala said he had been motivated to institutionalise a foundation to help the poor due to his own past hardships, especially in accessing education.
He said the Foundation’s main priority would be to ensure accessibility of education to the poor and vulnerable.
“I grew up poor and I know what it is like to go to school barefoot. I do not want to see any child suffer the same struggles as I did,” Mr Mahlala said.
He started donating to vulnerable children in 2017 in his hometown of Mount Moorosi.
To date he has supported 4000 students with school amenities, shoes, uniforms, bursaries and other educational needs. He has reached out to almost 100 entities and communities with various social and business support initiatives, and has worked with more than 40 entities in delivering this goal.
He said he wanted to reach out to the entire nation through the Foundation.
In addition, the BMDF representative, Retṧelisitsoe Nko, added that while the Foundation was self-funded by Mr Mahlala, it welcomed donations from any individual or institution willing to help it advance its noble causes.
“Organisations and everyone of good standing can pledge to ensure that this endeavour becomes a success. The biggest thing is that we have institutionalised this Foundation so that we lay a discernible trend of how much we are changing people’s lives for the better….,” said Mr Nko.
“Even before the launch, we had already spent over M400 000 to help 4000 students with various educational needs…,” he said.
Mr Mahlala is also a politician and senior member of the Democratic Congress. His noble initiative is a good example of the many noble initiatives that politicians can take to improve the lives of Basotho instead of concentrating on fighting political battles to gain positions and ministerial posts.
