Safwaan Arendse, 24, along with his wife, Vallean, are literally causing a stir in their Rocklands community as they hand out food to their needy neighbours.
Using an open space in Walrus Crescent, Safwaan sets up tables where he serves lekker warme soup and akni as often as he can.
When the Daily Voice visited Safwaan on Thursday, a large group of children had gathered in the street, drawn by the yummy smells wafting in the air.
Some were ready with their bakkies to take soup home, but others soema sat in the street and enjoyed their meal right there.
Safwaan says a couple of weeks ago, he and wife discussed their concerns about the health of
The couple has a one-year-old son, Caleb.
“I thought to myself, I wonder how many of these people get a proper meal each day? So we started by making a 60 litre pot of akni and spread the word that we’re gonna hand out food. We had like 200 people on that day and we realised that many people right down the road from us are really sukkeling,” Safwaan says.
Safwaan, who works for a cosmetics manufacturer, says the laaities in Rocklands stole his heart and so each week he forks out about R1000 to prepare the meals.
Recently, he says, some aunties in the community as well as B&B Catering Services have come onboard and made food donations.
“Look, the money I spend is a lot, but it is not about that. It is about our neighbours, our laaities and pensioners who need a meal.
“It comes from the heart. The laaities stole my heart because many of them must suffer because of the bad decisions made by their parents.
“No child deserves to go to bed hungry,” the young dad says.
Safwaan now plans to start a full-time feeding scheme in Rocklands, called Let’s Feed The Needy.
“I have only been doing this for a few weeks now and I really want to continue helping the community. So now we want to register an official non-profit organisation to keep this project going,” Safwaan says.
If you would like to assist, call Safwaan on
079 050 6288 or email [email protected].