Ivory Park’s Mpemelelo Soup Kitchen destroyed by a fire

A fire has destroyed everything in the storage room at Mpumelelo Soup Kitchen in Ivory Park’s Ward 78, and the caretaker of the kitchen was taken to hospital due to smoke inhalation.

The soup kitchen provides breakfast and lunch to more than 300 children every Tuesday and Friday.

The fire started on the evening of 20 June and the founder of the soup kitchen, Eva Rammutla, said the Eskom transformer which is above her storage facility had been leaking since the early hours on 19 June.

She apparently made numerous calls to Eskom, but no response was received. “No one attended to our plea regardless of the numerous reference numbers and calls. I believe that had Eskom attended to the reported oil leak coming from the transformer, the fire would have never taken place and none of my stock would have been destroyed.”

Rammutla said she contacted the Rivonia Eskom branch in Sandton because that is where they regularly report to if they have problems.

The Midrand Reporter visited the soup kitchen on 22 June and Rammutla reiterated that even after the fire, no Eskom representative had arrived and she was hoping that Eskom would attend to their problem soon.

“It is not the first time the transformer leaks, this very same transformer had a leak two years back in 2016 and was also reported and speedily attended to, that is why no fire eventually took place,” said Rammutla.

Large cable cords could be seen hanging from the transformer in the yard and running across the ground.

Rammutla has revealed her fear regarding the cables because she is unsure if they are still transmitting electricity and as a result, that section of the yard has been shut off so that children do not pass there. “We walk up and down near the cables fearing for our lives because we are not sure if it is still a threat and may harm us or not because we are still hoping that Eskom will attend to us and sort the problem out.

“It’s also not safe to have children in the yard with cables running across, therefore the children are forced to sit outside the yard and be served from there, running the risk of them being hit by cars, but we have our volunteers guarding them.

“I regularly sew clothes and accept donations of which some are given to children with no clothes and others are sold in order to produce funds for the soup kitchen because sponsors are not providing enough to keep the kitchen running without additional funds.

“If it was possible the soup kitchen would run every single day but we don’t have enough food.”

Rammutla highlighted that numerous community members lent a hand to put out the fire, but during the process, some of the items were stolen such as pots, buckets and plastic basins which were used to carry water.

Eskom‘s Gauteng spokesperson Nkosana Sibuyi said Eskom will be looking into the allegations that the call for assistance was not attended to, but highlighted that Ivory Park has a high level of illegal connections which place a lot of pressure on the transformer. “I am not insinuating that illegal connections are to blame for the leak, but I am raising an issue that tends to be a problem in Ivory Park.

“Bad services are unacceptable, Eskom will speedily attend to the matter.”

Mpumelelo Soup Kitchen is in need of:

• Sponsors
• Money
• Sewing material and equipment
• Donations (food, clothes and shoes)
• Pots
• Buckets
• Food
• Plastic basins
• Geyser
• Washing machine
• Doors and gates.

Mpumelelo Soup Kitchen has thanked some their sponsors including Famous Brand Midrand, Irene Pick n Pay, Fruit and Veg Mayibuye and Operation Hunger.

“I would like to thank every member of the community who assisted us in fighting the blaze,” said Rammutla.

Details: Eva Rammutla 078 361 4334; Portia Rammutla 082 972 9935.