24-04-2025
Stipends for sustenance – young change-makers go the extra mile to feed hope in Alex
Armed with a desire to alleviate poverty and food insecurity in Alexandra, Johannesburg, and a R4,000 stipend, husband-and-wife duo Gcina Twala and Thato Mokwebo started the Ntsika Ye Sizwesethu soup kitchen to give back to the community that raised them.
'We were born and bred in Alex. We see the struggle in Alex. There are people right now, as we speak, when you walk into their households, the food in the fridge is rotting because of electricity issues, or there is nothing at all. It's really devastating. I don't even have the words to explain the things we have seen, but for us, this is about making sure we fill that gap.'
The township of Alexandra has long been a symbol of South Africa's socioeconomic inequalities, inundated with deep poverty, unemployment and food insecurity, despite its close proximity to Africa's wealthiest square mile, Sandton.
On a chilly Tuesday morning, 22 April, husband-and-wife duo Gcina Twala (22) and Thato Mokwebo (25), with a handful of volunteers, gathered in a dimly lit room next to the main building of a local church in the heart of one of Johannesburg's most densely populated townships.
In this room, the Ntsika Ye Sizwesethu soup kitchen hums with purpose: to address food insecurity in the community where they grew up.
Twala and Mokwebo started Ntsika Ye Sizwesethu in 2022, armed with a small, but not insignificant stipend from a youth unemployment programme and a dream of addressing poverty in the area.
'When we first started our soup kitchen, we were both onboarded on to the YES programme and the stipend was only R4,000. Unlike some of our peers, we decided that we were going to use the stipend not only to cater for our needs, but also to make an impact within our community. That is what we used in order to get vegetables and get the kitchen running,' Twala said.
With that, the feeding scheme was born. Their mothers donated kitchenware, siblings pitched in with gas cylinders and neighbours offered whatever vegetables they could spare.
'At the beginning, we did look crazy – people were saying, 'This is not normal. You guys are earning this much and you want to feed the whole of Alexandra. How are you going to do it?' It didn't make sense to them. It was difficult, but it was something we chose to do because we knew it would bring attention to the cause itself and the need that was there,' Mokwebo chimed in.
Dreams of expansion
When they launched the foundation, Twala was only 19 and Mokwebo 22, but the desire to give back to the community was instilled in them from a young age, both being born to philanthropic parents.
'It was really difficult because not only did the stipend have to cater for that, but we were also new parents at that time. Figuring out how we were going to do that and then have the soup kitchen as well was not easy. But we kept on going because we believed that it was definitely going to pay off.'
What started as a weekly soup kitchen is now a fully fledged weekly feeding scheme, a lifeline for many people in the area.
Operating every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the kitchen now feeds hundreds of Alex residents both breakfast and lunch. Twala said that on a weekly basis, the operation costs around R1,500 (R6,000 per month) – money that isn't always easy to come by.
In the beginning phases, Ntsika Ye Sizwesethu was assisted by Ladles of Love, an NPO focusing on food insecurity, which supplied a portion of the vegetables. But the couple said the organisation lost some of its government funding, meaning Ladles of Love could no longer support their organisation.
They currently rely on a portion of Twala's salary, donations from informal partners and volunteers to keep the kitchen running. The pair also ventured into agriculture and established the Ntsika Ye Sizwesethu Food Garden.
Supported by Coca-Cola and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Twala and Mokwebo built a 30×10 greenhouse and also invested in hydroponic farming.
The goal is to create a self-sustaining system in which the pair can sell produce to fund the soup kitchen and other initiatives under their nonprofit. While Ntsika Ye Sizwesethu operates only in Alex at the moment, the couple has ambitions to expand the operation across Gauteng and even the country.
What sets Twala and Mokwebo's story apart isn't just the act of giving, but who is doing the giving. In a country where youth unemployment hovers around 45%, Gcina and Thato chose to defy the odds. Rather than being defined by their limitations, they leaned into a culture of care learned from their families. Both were raised by parents and grandparents who practised community philanthropy.
'We grew up seeing what it means to serve,' says Gcina. 'Now we're doing the same – and showing our daughter that it's not just about you in this world.' DM
