Helping Hands gives back for Mandela Day

Helping Hands (HH) NPO spoiled the Cross Road informal settlement community with a meal and handed over clothes on July 16 ahead of Mandela Day.

The founder and chairperson of HH NPO, Nthabiseng Mofokeng, said they had to put in their 67 minutes of Mandela’s spirit in advance following calls from stranded residents.

She said the majority of the residents at the informal settlement are unemployed and struggle to access basic services and food.

With the help from Paul Sehloho Transformation Leadership, E-burst and Lebo’s Market, the NPO was able to extend a helping hand to feed and donate clothes.

The community members gathered to share a meal. They were happy to receive new and pre-loved clothes.
A resident from the area, Alfios ‘Sam’ Makile, shared his gratitude, adding that the community is pleased to receive help.

He said what they really need is food because approximately 95% of the people are unemployed.

“I feel so happy. I am hopeful that they can try to help a lot of people in the community. We face daily challenges of living in an informal settlement.

“We have many challenges and invited the NPO to witness the conditions we live in. We don’t have running water and electricity. The whole community relies on four taps, routes and daycare centres for children,” said Makile.

Like other informal settlements around Kathorus, Cross Road is also affected by a lack of service delivery.

Mofokeng said the residents felt neglected. They raised concerns of hygiene, citing that the informal settlement has 40 toilets and four taps that cater for at least 535 shacks.

“Other concerns include unemployment, lack of access to information about job opportunities in both the government and the private sector, while some of the senior citizens do not receive the Sassa pension grant,” said Mofokeng.

She said they want to continuously assist the community with food and help them draft CVs, business plans, search for job opportunities and apply for IDs.

Lebo’s Market donated a voucher earlier in July to help the HH NPO organise the event.

The founder of Lebo’s Market, Lebohang Ramahanedza, said they are happy to be part of the initiative but more than anything, they are pleased with the NPO’s efforts to help the needy communities.

“I am so proud of the HH NPO because they come together with other NPOs and they help disadvantaged communities. They also show communities how to be self-sustainable,” said Ramahanedza.

“I did not know that there is that side of the community. Being part of the event made us want to do more and better because there is still a lot to be done.

You would think that when you are in Gauteng most of the places are developed, I did not know that we still have places that are not developed,” she said.