“After losing my daughter in July 2011, I thought I would donate clothes on schedule the following year. In 2012, I found a new dad to give things to. I wanted this to be something annually as a way of remembering, but I realized there was a growing need to help street people who Helpless, not just children,” Malinga said.
It was only at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown three years ago, with the government sweeping the streets and forcibly removing homeless residents, that she registered Ibusa with the Department of Social Development.
“My husband and I built relationships with the street people because we used to cook for them and share whatever little we had at home. But when the government said they should be quarantined, we opposed it and told the officials that these people had nowhere to go. Then they advised me to register the organization before I could go.” They can hear our plea.”
The institution has grown since then, and the demand for food and clothing for the needy has inevitably become too much.
“Not all the people on the streets are there by choice. Some are there because they can’t pay the rent. [Some] They have suitable jobs, but the income is very small, so they prefer to sleep under the bridge.”
Malinga Ibusa runs from her home in Randburg, but this month she teamed up with the Randburg Baptist Church to use her premises for cooking every Monday. Where she can be found with four volunteers preparing to head out into the cold night – until the power goes out. This still hasn’t deterred them.
“The dedication we have to this cause is that we make every situation work,” said Mpho Snail, who serves as one of the foundation’s directors.