Grace Mnikathi of Willowfontein, Pietermaritzburg, feeds up to 150 elderly people in her five-roomed mud home twice a week, with no funding from the authorities.
Mnikathi sells sweets and snacks at a nearby primary school and uses the money she makes to provide lunch for elderly people every Tuesday and Friday.
They eat bread and tea for breakfast. Lunch is anything that is available in the house, says Mnikathi, sometimes a chicken curry. This means that the elderly residents can take their medication on a full stomach, she says.
“In 2016 I decided to invite them for Christmas lunch. Six of them came. Then I took a decision to invite them every Tuesday. The number has grown to 150. They now come on Tuesday and Friday,” says Mnikathi.
“This is our happy home,” says 80-year-old Sizakele Ntuli. She started visiting Mnikathi in 2017. She says her favourite days of the week are Tuesday and Friday when she goes to Mnikathi’s house.
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