By Buziwe Nocuze
• Elderly residents, unemployed parents and children now face empty plates after a community soup kitchen shut its doors because sponsors pulled out.
• The soup kitchen fed more than 150 people every week, but rising costs and a struggling economy forced it to close.
For years, 67-year-old Nomsa Fodo never worried about going to bed hungry.
Every morning she walked to the Ubuntubethu soup kitchen in Samora Machel, knowing there would be a warm meal waiting for her and her family.
Now the pots are empty.
The soup kitchen, which opened during the Covid-19 pandemic, has shut down after sponsors stopped funding it.
The closure has left hundreds of struggling residents scrambling for food.
Fodo supports three grandchildren and two children with her pension grant.
She said the food parcels and cooked meals from the soup kitchen helped her family survive.
Now she has been forced to borrow money from loan sharks to put food on the table.
“I am taking care of my three grandchildren and two kids. The pension grant I am getting does not cover our bills,” said Fodo.
“The food we buy gets finished before the next pay day. Grocery prices keep going up and life is becoming harder.”
The closure has also hit single mother Noluyolo Mda hard.
The 45-year-old survives on piece jobs such as washing clothes for other people.
She said the soup kitchen gave her peace of mind because her children always had something to eat while she searched for work.
“We hope they get new sponsors because we are really struggling,” said Mda.
Founder Mzikayise Ndzuzo said telling the community the soup kitchen was closing was heartbreaking.
“Seeing people cry really broke my heart,” he said.
At its peak, the kitchen served more than 150 people of all ages.
It first operated five days a week before funding problems forced it to cut services to three days a week.
When sponsors pulled out, Ndzuzo turned to friends for help.
But they too were battling rising costs and could not keep the project alive.
Today he still receives messages from residents asking when the kitchen will reopen.
Some tell him they are taking medication on empty stomachs because they no longer have food.
Ndzuzo is still searching for sponsors but says it is becoming harder as organisations struggle financially.
He believes government should step in to support community projects that feed the hungry and help families survive.
Pictured above: The Ubuntubethu soup kitchen.
Image source: Supplied.
