By Buziwe Nocuze
- Phumla Makrwede from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape started a soup kitchen in 2024 for elderly people who are abused.
- The soup kitchen serves between 80 and 100 people every Thursday and survives on donations from church and community members.
Phumla Makrwede started a soup kitchen in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, in 2024 after she noticed elderly people were being abused by their own grandchildren and children, with nowhere to talk about it. Every Thursday she feeds them and gives them a place to speak about what happens at home.
“I started the soup kitchen after I noticed how elderly people are being neglected, with no space to talk about how they were treated in their homes,” Makrwede said.
She said the soup kitchen contacts social workers when elderly people report being abused. What began as support for the elderly has grown. Drug addicts and people who had stopped taking their medication now also come, and Makrwede said she cannot turn them away.
She visits local clinics to speak to nurses on behalf of community members who had stopped taking their medication, and says some have since gone back onto treatment.
The soup kitchen has not received any funding. Makrwede depends on donations from church and community members, and Shoprite gives soup and bread once a month. Mr Bread has also donated food parcels for the most disadvantaged families.
Volunteer Nophiwo Gwadiso works without pay.
“I know that one day things will be better and we will get paid. For now, the most important thing is to continue asking for donations for the beneficiaries so that we can keep cooking for them,” Gwadiso said.
The soup kitchen serves between 80 and 100 people. Andiswa Mana, a 47-year-old mother of three, said it is keeping her family afloat.
“We know she doesn’t get funding, and we pray that she doesn’t close the place because most of us will die from poverty,” Mana said.
Pictured above: Phumla Makrwede from Mthatha started a soup kitchen for elderly people to have a safe space.
Image source: Supplied
