A community soup kitchen in Zandspruit is providing free meals to more than 90 residents as part of an initiative aimed at easing hunger and supporting vulnerable families.
Bana Ba Thari Soup Kitchen operates in the Emthongeni section of Zandspruit, providing nutritious meals mainly on weekends and during school holidays.
According to the organisation, approximately 70 children and 20 senior citizens currently benefit from the initiative, with priority given to some of the community's most vulnerable residents.
For founder Sonto Ndlovu, the initiative grew from an encounter with a schoolchild that she says she could not ignore.
“One day after school, I saw a child struggling to walk properly. The school bag she was carrying seemed to be a burden,” Ndlovu recalled.
She approached the learner and asked whether she was okay. According to Ndlovu, the child explained that she had saved some of her school lunch to take home to her sick mother.
The encounter motivated Ndlovu to begin organising a community feeding initiative. She initially approached members of her church for assistance and says helping and sharing with less fortunate people had long been close to her heart.
Running the initiative was not easy, however, particularly as the demand for assistance grew.
Ndlovu later collaborated with Audrey Mangena following financial challenges faced by the initiative.
“After two years of serving the community, we were graced by the Zandspruit councillor, and the name Bana Ba Thari Soup Kitchen came alive,” Ndlovu said.
The organisation's mission is to fight hunger among poverty-stricken families while restoring dignity and promoting the spirit of Ubuntu.
“We hope to restore dignity while enhancing Ubuntu,” she said.
Ndlovu hopes the initiative can eventually grow beyond providing meals. Her long-term vision includes establishing a home that could provide shelter and support to vulnerable children, including orphans and children living in child-headed households.
She said the organisation has encountered troubling accounts of children facing hunger, neglect and unsafe home environments following the death or absence of their parents.
The initiative has also received support from local community leadership.
Councillor David Mangena said he and his team have been working with Ndlovu and the soup kitchen since July last year.
“We have been together since last July with Mrs Sonto. The soup kitchen initiative currently benefits Zandspruit residents in Emthongeni with lunch meals on weekends, and they are also equipped with computer lessons at the facility,” Mangena said.
He said there are ambitions to extend the programme to other parts of Zandspruit, including the Wolfe section, if additional resources become available.
However, funding remains one of the initiative's biggest challenges.
“We are helping the community out of our own pockets currently and would accept any assistance in the form of food parcels or financial support so that we can expand our provisions,” Mangena said.
The organisation ultimately hopes to provide meals more frequently, reach more residents in different sections of Zandspruit and compensate community members who prepare the food and clean the facility.
For Bana Ba Thari, what started with concern for one hungry learner has developed into a community initiative serving dozens of children and elderly residents.
But its organisers believe there are many more families who still need help.
Community members, businesses and organisations interested in supporting the initiative through food donations, food parcels or other assistance can contact Sonto Ndlovu on 082 580 2690.