In 2013, Hyundai donated the first library to the Southview High School in Lenasia South in collaboration with Hyundai Motor Company of South Korea and the Imperial and Motus Community Trust.

During the years that followed, Hyundai has focused on making an impact on the lives of learners in underprivileged communities, taking a lead from the Korean model where a relentless concentration on education since the 1950s laid the foundation for the successes of the modern South Korea.

“We wish to encourage learning, reading, an interest in technology, and education as a whole through this part of our corporate social investment programme,” says Niall Lynch, CEO of Hyundai Automotive SA, who handed over the library to Oscar Lekoane, principal of the Windmill Park Primary School.

“We are proud of the part we can play to give children from this community a better education that will broaden their minds and vision. We need great, inquisitive learners who can become successful and productive adults in our country,” said Niall.

The libraries, where technology is used to enhance the reading and learning experience, are modern and well maintained. Librarians, who come from the community surrounding the school, are at hand to assist the learners and to see that the centres are well maintained.

The library and resource centre are an important source of learning for the pupils of the Windmill Park Primary School, said Oscar, the principal. “We want our learners to develop and improve their reading. The library will also provide our learners a space that is beautiful. It will be fully utilised because it has the support of every member of our staff.”

Lebogang Mashile, a South African actor, writer and performance poet who addressed the learners in the audience at the handover ceremony, said: “The library that you see here is a magical tool, it is a portal to knowledge. Without knowledge, you cannot produce the things that you need to survive.

“You feed your mind with what you put into it. If you change your mind, you can change everything about the world around you. Those books in that library are a portal, a resource centre to change your mind.”.

Samuel Matlhola, parts operations director at Hyundai Automotive South Africa, inspired the learners by his journey of studying and gaining knowledge to become a chartered accountant. “I learned through reading that I could gather so much knowledge. I am standing here today through the choices I made in my life. It was through reading that I was able to make those good choices,” he told learners.