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South Africa, Maverick Citizen, Nelson Mandela Bay

Tears of gratitude as SA Harvest brings much-needed food to Nelson Mandela Bay

Tears of gratitude as SA Harvest brings much-needed food to Nelson Mandela Bay
Edith Mhlaba, who attends Sinako We Care soup kitchen several times a week for food. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)
Estelle Ellis
By Estelle Ellis
30 Jun 2024
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After devastating floods in Kariega earlier this month, thousands of people were displaced, shelters were overrun and families lost precious possessions as robbers looted their homes. With damage estimated at more than R6bn, Premier Oscar Mabuyane said rebuilding was a priority. But after the crisis was over, families faced another issue – school holidays meant children were not receiving meals from the government’s nutrition programme.

There were hugs and tears of joy and gratitude as the SA Harvest team last week rolled out its support programme to flood-ravaged communities in Nelson Mandela Bay.

The metro was hit hard by flash floods on the weekend of 2 June when more than 200mm of rain fell in a short space of time. Eleven people drowned as rivers burst their banks. Kariega (previously known as Uitenhage) bore the brunt of the floods.

sa harvest nelson mandela bay food crisis An SA Harvest team hands out deliveries in Kariega, Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)



sa harvest nelson mandela bay food crisis Bread being prepared for people at a Kariega soup kitchen. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)



Read more in Daily Maverick: Death toll 22 after Nelson Mandela Bay and KZN storm havoc, flood misery hits Western Cape

The heavy rains also brought misery to the low-lying township of Missionvale where families had to be evacuated.

Alan Browde, the founder of SA Harvest, said: “The suffering of communities - especially poorer ones - often inflicted by nature can be devastating beyond description. The recent high winds and destructive floods in KZN and the Eastern Cape were no exception, with thousands displaced, extensive damage to homes and, perhaps the most painful of all, increased hunger. Under normal conditions, hunger in these regions is at shocking levels, but after disasters like this they become catastrophic.

“We at SA Harvest, with our mission to end hunger in South Africa, are proud to have responded with speed to the situation in both provinces with the central aim of getting nutritious food to those most in need. As in Lusikisiki, where Daily Maverick and SA Harvest collaborated to help feed children deprived of their daily meal over the Christmas period, we are working together again to help alert the public to the need for financial help to make this relief effort, in KZN and the Eastern Cape, sustainable over as long a period as possible.    



“Our usual modus operandi is to rescue food from the food chain that would have gone to landfill and to distribute it to communities in need. While we still operate as far as possible this way, the locations of the areas of most damage are isolated and difficult to reach, especially by standard vehicles. For this reason, we are going to rely a lot on food parcels which will each be able to feed a family of six for around six weeks. The challenge is that most of the food in food parcels has to be bought as specific foods are required that may not be able to be rescued on a consistent level. These foods include long-life proteins, long-life, tinned fruits and vegetables etc. The parcels also include cooking and critical cleaning items.

“Needless to say, this way of working requires funding, and our cry is to get as much money as possible to keep thousands of people fed - especially the children whose rate of devastating malnutrition is sky-high - and nourished during this difficult period, which could last for a long time. 

“We owe the hugest debt of gratitude to our partners in this campaign, including Daily Maverick, Missionvale Care Centre in Gqeberha, which we are using as a base there, Boxer, Unicef, Meals on Wheels, World Vision and many others, and hope that with the help of Daily Maverick readers, we can all make a palpable difference.”

The CEO of SA Harvest, Ozzy Nel, said they were delivering food parcels and bulk stock to soup kitchens to especially feed children and the elderly. 

According to Stats SA, 37% of households in Nelson Mandela Bay survive on social grants. A recent study done in the metro by researchers from Nelson Mandela University showed that in one ward, Wells Estate, up to 77% of households were severely food insecure.

sa harvest nelson mandela bay food crisis A child looks through the fence at Revona's Soup Kitchen in Kariega. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)



sa harvest nelson mandela bay food crisis Owner of Siyakhanyisa, Amelda Stone, hugs and rejoices with SA Harvest team member Anele Tyani, as she is overwhelmed after seeing how much food they were delivering to her. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)



In 60% of households, someone went to sleep hungry; 88.2% of households reported experiencing anxiety and uncertainty about household food supply, while 89.4% of households had insufficient food quality.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Fourteen babies and toddlers have starved to death in Nelson Mandela Bay in the past 15 months

Emergency relief


SA Harvest works from the Missionvale Care Centre, focusing specifically on helping to meet the more pressing needs in local communities. Missionvale is one of the metro’s poorest areas.

Nel said they were also working with OneFarm Share, a platform facilitated through a partnership between HelloChoice and Standard Bank to buy fresh produce from small-scale farmers for soup kitchens in the metro.

Some of the stock delivered last week to Missionvale and distributed to soup kitchens feeding flood victims and other needy families included 5,000 bags of rice from the Taiwan-based Tzu Chi Foundation and R2-million in clothes donated by H&M.

Nel said the Road Freight Association assisted them with transport to deliver relief parcels to Nelson Mandela Bay. 

“When we put out a call for help,” Nel said, “the Road Freight Association came back to us in 30 minutes to say they would help with logistics. They are sending two trucks a week; some being refrigerated trucks.

“H&M also donates the proceeds of the sale of their recyclable shopping bags to SA Harvest.”

Other donations were also flooding in, with six tons of maize, four pallets of canned vegetables, Bully Beef and spices being distributed to soup kitchens.

Nel said they were expecting more stock to come in this week, including 6,000 tins of baked beans and six tons of split peas that were rejected at market because of a colour difference. 

Apart from providing flood relief, Nel’s vision for SA Harvest is to build a collective to assist those in need, starting with the Missionvale Care Centre.

“There are a lot of people who care about the Eastern Cape,” he said. 

Nel has brought his team of young graduates from Lusikisiki to assist in vetting organisations and distributing food. Despite long hours of hard work unpacking and repacking trucks, the team was also first to comfort those overwhelmed by the food donations and to offer hugs to those in pain. 

sa harvest nelson mandela bay food crisis Another happy delivery at a soup kitchen by the SA Harvest team. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)



Missionvale Care Centre manager Sabrina Kala said they were hit hard by the floods even though most people were evacuated to the Missionvale Primary School. Some of those who work in the garden at the centre were also sleeping there.

“We had a list of 40 people to accommodate but we only had five pillows and 10 blankets,” she said, adding that they were thankful to Gift of the Givers who helped with blankets. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Shelters swamped by displaced people after deadly downpours in Nelson Mandela Bay

“Life is very difficult for people when it rains here in Missionvale because their houses will flood. Many are sleeping on the ground, so that means they will wake up in a pool of water. But they are scared to leave their homes because when they do, they are robbed,” she said. 

“We were digging trenches and the plumbing team also went out to help.” 

‘Epicentre of hope’


Nel said they planned to use the blueprint of a successful community centre and duplicate it elsewhere in the metro. Missionvale has been going for 36 years. Their food budget was hit by rising prices, and escalating food insecurity in their community means the organisation is facing a R3.9-million shortfall, Kala said. 

“Our donors have been incredibly generous, helping us with everything but food. So our food is really running low.”

Food donations drying up last year threatened to derail their Mbucks programme that was crucial in their community development plan. The programme pays community members for a range of activities, including attending skills development programmes, recycling, helping with maintenance and attending support groups. Mbucks can be used to buy food, clothes or household items.

“But people only really buy food,” Kala said. “There is a great need for food in this community.”

sa harvest nelson mandela bay food crisis Children play in front of an SA Harvest delivery site. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)



During the school holidays, children can get food at the centre. They are also fed twice a day at Normoyle Primary School which is run from the centre. 

“It is impossible to learn on an empty stomach,” Kala said. “Children already have to cope with sleeping on cement floors.”

Wes Boshoff, who provided leadership training and counselling to the Missionvale team, said the work had changed him.

“These are people who are giving hope away for free. This place is the epicentre of hope,” he said. 

“Everyone here is part of something bigger than themselves. This is a place that is worth living for. When you come here, you discover that they are really seeing people… not just looking at them.” 

The team at Missionvale faces incredible odds, especially as their community – ravaged by gang violence, poverty and unemployment – is fighting to survive.

Sleepless nights


sa harvest nelson mandela bay food crisis The SA Harvest team in action. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)



sa harvest nelson mandela bay food crisis A resident celebrates receiving much-needed food. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)



Out in the field, where soup kitchens have been working overtime to feed the hungry, the food from SA Harvest is accepted with gratitude and cooks were making lists of what they could prepare next.

At Sinako We Care soup kitchen, Nonkosinati Jovo was happy to receive a food parcel. She visits the soup kitchen twice a week. Jovo said Sinako helps many people who would otherwise go hungry. They even deliver to the older folks.

sa harvest nelson mandela bay food crisis Siyakhanyisa Soup Kitchen’s Amelda Stone is overwhelmed after seeing how much food they were delivering to her. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)



sa harvest nelson mandela bay food crisis Nonkosinati Jovo and her child at Sinako We Care soup kitchen where they get food twice a week. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)



sa harvest nelson mandela bay food crisis Edith Mhlaba, who attends Sinako We Care soup kitchen several times a week for food. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)



Sooreya and Mzukisi Toba, who run Sinako We Care, said they start cooking early in the morning as Mzukisisi must report to Volkswagen at 6am for his shift.

Amelda Stone runs Siyakhanyisa. She too was overwhelmed by the donation from SA Harvest and hugged Anele Tyani from the team when she received ingredients in bulk to cook for her community. 

Amelia Michaels, who cooks at Ithemba, said helping community members with food brings them together and unites them.

Revona Pienaar of Revona’s Soup Kitchen said the SA Harvest donation had arrived just in time.

“I had run out of food and was having sleepless nights worrying and praying for a way to continue feeding my people,” she said.

She was overwhelmed with joy. Tears streamed down her face when the SA Harvest truck stopped at her premises. Pienaar makes three big pots of food for her community every day, all on a two-plate stove. DM

If you would like to contribute a donation to this cause, you can do so here.

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