Makause community humbled by acts of kindness

Three thousand meals were served to the community of the Makause informal settlement on Wednesday, last week, as the first project in an initiative by Meals on Wheels Community Services (MOWCS) South Africa to feed millions of people with the help of corporate involvement.

The meals were made by a MOWCS team and five corporate teams, at Production Park, in City Deep, and then transported to Makause.

There were six chefs for each team with Sibusiso Ntshingila, a self-employed chef, as head chef for the event.

Companies which took part in the challenge were: Discovery, Tsogo Sun, Resource Communications, Container World and Industrial Commodity Holdings.

MOWCS is a non-profit organisation that was started in 1964, in East London, and serves all nine provinces.

“The Makause project is the first in our 9999 Challenge, which is a joint venture between corporates and MOWCS to raise awareness about the plight of the hungry in South Africa,” said the project director at MOWCS, Gershon Naidoo.

The 9999 Challenge is comprised of nine teams competing to reach the nine highest peaks in nine provinces to help nine beneficiaries, he explained.

“There are 15 million South Africans who don’t have food to eat, so our aim is to try to feed all of them or to try and create awareness to help others join in the fight against hunger.

“We have a group of caregivers who service Makause informal settlement and are aware of the poverty and hunger in this area, so they brought it to our attention.

“We want more corporates to get on board to help us feed those in need.”

National director of MOWCS Drina Engelbrecht also emphasised the need to raise awareness.

“We need to raise awareness about the extreme poverty in our country and also attract donors and partners to assist us in feeding more people on a regular basis,” she said.

“According to our meal delivery statistics for the financial year ending February 2017, we served 29 million meals last year.

“We have 191 branches across South Africa.

“We believe a meal is the first step in helping communities regain their dignity.”

Engelbrecht also said the 9999 Challenge will see them travel the country.

“We will be travelling to all the provinces in an effort to fight hunger,” she said.

The challenge will run until June 23.

One of the Makause informal settlement community leaders, Jomo Ngwenya, was pleased with MOWCS’ gesture.

“We are happy with what they have done for us and what they continue to do for us,” he said.

“As a community we feel united by such initiatives.

“Thank you to all who contributed to this initiative.”

Members of the Primrose SAPS and Primrose SAPS Crime Prevention Youth Desk were also present to assist at and monitor the event.

The 9999 Challenge’s nine peaks to be summited in the nine provinces are:

Gauteng: Toringkop (1 913m)

North West: Nooitgedacht-west (1 806m)

Mpumulanga: De Berg (2 331m)

Limpopo: Iron Crown (2 126m)

Free State: Namahadi (3 275m)

KZN: Mafadi (3 451m)

Eastern Cape: Kwaduma (3 019m)

Western Cape: Seweweekspoort (2 325m)

Northern Cape: Murch Point (2 156m)