As residents of Gauteng endure freezing cold temperatures this week, with snowfall experienced in some parts of the province, concerns have been raised on the how poor families and the homeless people survive the cold.
Civil rights organisation #NotInMyName has partnered with non-profit organisation Dlalisa Moyeni Foundation and retail giant Shoprite to lessen the burden on the economically challenged residents of Tshwane, by providing food.
Well-known Tshwane businessman, Bongani Skosana, who is also a top official of #NotInMyName said the food distribution drive in Mamelodi was sparked by the glaring need in the community stricken by poverty and unemployment.
“Our purpose today is in the spirit of sharing. We started our work here in Mamelodi and today, together with our partner Shoprite we have come to share the little we have. It is very cold, the cold front is here and we are also here to share soup and bread with our community,” said Skosana.
“With the cold weather experienced this week, the experience for our people has been very bad. Where some of the people are living, the houses are not properly done. People do not have proper heating appliances to warm themselves. It gets worrying when the cold weather like we are experiencing now arrives.”
The organisations have recently donated blankets to the community.
“We are doing a lot of projects on the group. Remember, as #NotInMyName we advocate for the voiceless. We are against abuse and issues of gender-based violence. We have represented a lot of people from this community who have endured abuse,” said Skosana, who also runs a mentorship programme for boys through his Dlalisa Moyeni Foundation.
“We are running food drives in this community. As a community-based organisation, we respond to the crisis and the needs of the people.
“In everything we do, we are always making a call to other forward-thinking citizens, organisations, businesses and government to come in and support. We are doing this anyway, come and support us in any way that you can. The beneficiaries should be the communities. There is lots of needs in this community,” he said.
Themba Masango, secretary general of Mamelodi said the dire socio-economic conditions in many South Africa communities are breeding ground for violence and abuse.
“Mamelodi is not excluded from that setup. We know the atrocities of the past we are coming from, and we are talking of communities with about 65 percent unemployment amongst the youth. People here do not choose to be in this situation but it often manifests in unwanted ways such as violence, and drug abuse,” said Masango.
“We have partnered with the Dlalisa Moyeni Foundation to make sure that we do not only provide food, but we support the programmes to mentor the boy child. We are starting them young, preparing them for the future.
“We also would like to express appreciation to Shoprite. They have been with us since 2019 when we went out to help the flooding victims. We look forward to have more partners coming to help the needy.”
Masango said the Shoprite mobile soup kitchen has cheered many communities, who do not know when their next meal will come.
On Monday, the South African Weather Service (Saws) confirmed that some parts of Gauteng had experienced, as different parts of the country endure very cold weather this week.
IOL