- Mam-Mafaya started feeding kids during school holidays after seeing them walk across a dangerous railway line just to get food.
- She shut down her soup kitchen in 2023, but cheaper bread helped her reopen and feed more people for less money.
When school holidays started in June 2022, Mam-Mafaya noticed groups of children walking across the railway near Khwezi Station in Dube, Soweto. They were on their way to a holiday program in Mofolo North, just to get lunch.
Worried about their safety, the 56-year-old decided to act.
“I saw a group of about 11 children under the age of 12 who came to my church’s school holiday programme because they heard we were serving food,” she said.
“I recognised one of them from my neighbourhood and I knew I had to do something.”
That weekend, she took R200 of her pension money and bought green soup peas and bread. She told the children to come to her house for a proper meal.
To her surprise, 25 children showed up. But she still managed to feed all of them.
“The next week, even more came. I know free food always draws people, especially children,” she said.
By March 2023, rising prices forced her to close her soup kitchen. Her daughter had also lost her job during the Covid-19 pandemic and needed help.
Then Mam-Mafaya found a game-changer: unsliced brown bread selling for just R5 a loaf at Shoprite. She realised she could now feed more people for less money.
“Normal sliced bread costs about R18. With R20, I can now get four loaves and feed more people,” she said.
Every first and last Saturday of the month, Mam-Mafaya opens her kitchen again. She feeds any child who comes, no matter their background. Adults living on the streets or dealing with drug addiction also line up for a hot meal and a slice of hope.
Pictured above: Bread
Image: Supplied
