LETTER: Muldersdrift community doing it for themselves

• Thabilie Mange writes:

Muldersdrift, which is nestled in Mogale City or the City of Human Origin, is known for its beautiful mountains, landscape, hotels, and resorts. It is also regarded as the tourism capital of Gauteng, for a good reason.

I first visited Muldersdrift in 2017. A spiritual mentor had invited me to his church called Velocity Church. Members of that church are black and white – and treat each other with respect and dignity.

The other day, I read a book review (book titled The History of Mulder’s Drift: 1815 – 2015) about Muldersdrift. The book covers the area’s history and its people. It also touches on the important families (Mulders and Koekemoers) living there, who are all white Afrikaners. The book also reveals that the place was named after Mulder.

A few weeks ago, someone invited me to Muldersdrift, where blacks live. The place is an informal settlement. Poverty and unemployment are written all over the area. Remember, poverty is a crime against humanity.

This person was born and schooled in Muldersdrift. He is now a community developer and co-founder of an organisation. The organisation was established to develop Muldersdrift and her people. The non-profit organisation is self-funded and has bought a big land in the area. It is busy building houses for its members. Not only that, but it is also providing water to the informal settlement nearby. And it feeds about 75 poor people daily.

The organisation has also partnered with a company to train residents on entrepreneurship. They call their course mini MBA. When the trainees complete their training, they get certificates. The company also incubates its businesses.

In conclusion, the organisation provides a manual on how a society should sustain itself, and not depend entirely on the government. I hope other poor communities can learn from Muldersdrift residents and do things for themselves.