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You are at:Home»NEWS»Heaven’s kitchens
NEWS

Heaven’s kitchens

Rod AmnerBy Rod AmnerSeptember 16, 2021Updated:September 16, 2021No Comments3 Mins Read
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Lulama Maseti's Masibambane Soup Kitchen in Extension 8. Photo: Loyiso Dyongman
Dozens of soup kitchens have sprung up in Makhanda, providing a nutritional and psychosocial lifeline to thousands in our depressed economy. LOYISO DYONGMAN visited two of them. 

Lulama Maseti, 34, is a mother of two from Extension 8 who runs her Masibambisane Soup Kitchen from home. She is unemployed and lives with her two kids and mom. She said they depend on her mother’s pension and Child Support grants to buy food. But a slice of that money goes to groceries for the soup kitchen.

“I started this soup kitchen after noticing how many breadwinners in my community had lost their jobs when the Covid-19 lockdown started last year. I had no money, but I thought that starting this would help a lot of people. A result of that is the scores of people coming here to get a plate of food during the days I cook. I cook twice a week because I don’t have the funds to cook every day,” Maseti said.

Community members at Lulama Maseti’s Masibambane Soup Kitchen in Extension 8 wait for plates of nutritious food. Photo: Loyiso Dyongman.

Her plan for Heritage Day next Friday is to cook traditional Xhosa lunch for the people. She said she would welcome with both hands donations from Good Samaritans to help make the day a success. “I welcome anything that a person might have.”

“Most people who come here are old, and some don’t have families. Others are kids from low-income families. If I had the means, I would be cooking for them every day. It is sad to see older people coming in numbers to get a plate of food. You think inside, where are they going to get it tomorrow or later in the evening,” she said.

Another soup kitchen owner who works from her home in Currie Street is Diane Oosthuizen. She prioritises children but dishes up for elders, too.

On Monday, 13 September, she received a grocery and meat donation from the OBC store. “God is good all the time. I want to say thank you so much to Dion Crafford, the manager, and his staff from OBC Butchery for their very generous donation towards the soup kitchen! May God bless your business in abundance. I am so grateful and don’t have words to describe how I feel,” Oosthuizen said.

Diane Oosthuizen with Michael Bruce-Alexander on Monday when the OBC store handed her a grocery donation. Photo: Loyiso Dyongman

About 160 people come to her soup kitchen on Tuesdays. She used to cook two days a week, but there were fewer sponsors and donations because times were getting tough for everyone.

“It is very heartbreaking but also touching to see how some adults also come to queue for food like kids. For the older people who can’t come, we dish, and a family member takes it to them at home. There are quite many unemployed men and women that come here,” she said.
Some people offer to wash pots and dishes in exchange for plates of food.
You can contact Lulama Maseti on 076 922 2411 and Diane Oosthuizen on 084 899 6502.
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Rod Amner

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