Despite the effects of patriarchy on society, there is much to celebrate about women, as this month sets out to emphasise, and this includes showing initiative and innovativeness. For this reason, women need to unite and support one another.
The Masikhule Soup Kitchen in Barcelona informal settlement in Gugulethu bears such hallmarks, those of its founder, Nolusindiso Mangxa (49), who has operated in the area for almost four years.
She says the women of this country need to have courage and emulate those who famously marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria against the dompass in August 1956.
“We allow men to oppress us. Almost all the community structures are led by men and are elected by us women. Even the business sector is dominated by men. I don’t know whether we don’t trust ourselves or we are used to being led but that needs to stop.”
According to Mangxa, women need to be celebrated daily because they are the pillar of the country and their powers are immeasurable. “Only we can carry a baby in the stomach for nine months. And we are the pillars of many families. Behind any successful man is a woman.”
Explaining the reason she started the kitchen, the mother of seven said she had noticed the conditions the community of the area was living under.
She said most community members were unemployed and some had chronic illnesses.
Mangxa said it was difficult for them to pursue their treatment because they had no food. “People here are suffering a lot. Nobody cares about them. And some of them are defaulting on their treatment because they have no food. When I started the soup kitchen at the beginning of the Covid-19 in 2020 it was bad. People were indoors not allowed to move around and you could see that they needed help.”
She said she used to cook three days a week but now she has to do odd jobs to support the initiative.
“When I started I would cook on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, only porridge in the morning and lunch. But I have to do odd jobs to sustain it. We used to receive food and vegetables from Food Lover’s Market and Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) every Saturday. But we don’t get this anymore, so now it is hard,” said Mangxa. She emphasised that when she has an odd job she only cooks on a Saturday.
She appealed to the government to provide some funding.