No handouts needed as gogos sing to raise funds for seniors’ organisation in Alexandra
With no donors in sight, Alexandra’s elderly women turned to music to raise funds to keep their one of their centres afloat.
When the elderly of Alexandra gathered at the Altrec Sports Complex on June 11, they proved that age is no barrier to action.
Siyondla Umphakathi’s first fundraising concert was a testament to their determination to sustain an organisation built on compassion and self-reliance.
The inaugural concert was initially meant to serve as a practical solution to the organisation’s funding challenges, but it blossomed into a celebration of the resilience and enduring spirit of Alexandra’s older generation, featuring exhilarating performances by multiple choirs from organisations affiliated with the Johannesburg Older Persons’ Forum in Region E.
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Siyondla Umphakathi founder Silvia Mvumvu said it was important to host such an event, especially since the organisation operates in an environment where sponsors and donors are increasingly difficult to secure.
“There is nowhere we can go to get funds and we don’t even have donors or people who would give us something, but we couldn’t just sit and fold our arms.
“We couldn’t just wait. We have the brains, the legs, and hands to do it ourselves.”
Together with other groups, the gogos demonstrated their agency and determination to sustain the programmes that matter most to them. Siyobandla Umphakathi, as Mvumvu explained, operates as a day care centre. Not for children, but for the elderly in Alexandra.
It provides a vital space of compassion, companionship, and mutual support for seniors who might otherwise spend their days isolated at home.
Also read: World Hunger Day brings hope to children in Alexandra
The centre creates a tight-knit support structure where weekly gatherings enable members to engage in activities that combat loneliness and promote healthy ageing.
Moses Maimela, chairperson of Ageing with Wisdom, praised the concert as a model for other elderly organisations facing similar funding shortages. Many such groups rely primarily on members’ own contributions to survive.
“These fundraising events will allow the organisations to raise enough money to ensure that when the elderly residents in the community meet to exercise, crochet, or knit, they may have something to eat.”
He confirmed that Ageing with Wisdom will host the next similar event, signalling a growing movement of proactive, community-led fundraising among Johannesburg’s older persons’ forums.
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