Siyabonga Africa | poverty and hunger alleviation, skills development, community upliftment

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Get Help

Whether you need food, clothing, shelter, information or support, Siyabonga Africa is here to help. If we can't help you ourselves, we'll put you in touch with others who can.

Apply for a course

Take the first step towards changing your life, by signing up for one of our courses – get the skills and training you need to apply for a job or start your own business.

Volunteer

Put your time and skills to good use. From admin work to serving meals to homeless people, you'll find soul satisfying opportunities to help at Siyabonga Africa.

Sponsor a course

If your company is looking for a great CSI initiative, why not sponsor one of our training courses? Help combat unemployment and get South Africa working.

Earn BBBEE points

Contributions towards our work score points in three pillars – Skills Development, Enterprise & Supplier Development (ESD) and Socio-Economic Development (SED).

Small Business Support

Many small, start up businesses fail owing to lack of marketing materials and know how. Partner with Siyabonga Africa to provide business coaching and support services.

Raise funds

Start your own fundraising initiative in support of our work – whether you run a marathon or host a fundraising dinner for your friends, you can make a real difference.

Hire one of ours

We have well trained and work ready candidates just needing a chance to prove their ability. Give someone from an underprivileged background the opportunity to shine!

SHE LEFT A LIFE ON THE STREET BEHIND

Lerato spent ten years living on the streets. Not because she wanted to, but because she thought there was no way out.

She was one of many girls (some as young as 13 years) who sleep on threadbare blankets on the broken pavement, and spend their days wandering the streets in search of drugs. Because that's the only way to escape from the cold, fear, hunger and despair. And the self-loathing of selling your body to feed your habit.

It took us months and months to build a bridge of trust with Lerato. Every week, our team would visit the run-down area where she lived ... bringing gifts of food and clothing, listening to her story, and assuring her that there was a path out of this life.

In August, she eventually agreed to go into rehab, which we arranged for her. And in December, she came back to Siyabonga Africa to show us just how far she's come!

We hardly recognised her – the transformation so far has been amazing! She's now staying with her mom, and looking forward to going back to school in January to finish her matric, so she'll be better qualified to find a job and become self sufficient. Her long term plan is to study tourism.

For now though, what moves her the most is that her son has started to call her ‘mom’ for the first time. This has given her something to live for and all the motivation she needs not to slip back into her old ways.

We'll walk beside Lerato every step of her journey back to a normal life. But she is just one person – and there are many, many others who need help to start rebuilding their lives. Wherever possible we try to reunite homeless people with family members who can support and encourage them. Others need help getting their ID or other personal documents, applying for a SASSA grant or finding a doctor who will treat them.

Please consider making a contribution towards the cost of rehab – to start another young woman like Lerato on the road back to a normal life

Above all, people living on the streets need to know that someone cares. Please will you be that someone? Join hands with Siyabonga Africa – and make your donation right now – to bring a homeless person real hope of a better future.

Please use the form below to give online right now. You could literally save a life.

Listen as Lerato bares her soul about life on the streets ... and her determination to rebuild her life with help from Siyabonga Africa.

We have a proven track record of successfully helping people off the streets and re-integrating them back into society. Please support our Street to Feet programme – it's literally like saving someone's life.

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What We Do

Siyabonga Africa creates opportunities for unemployed, poverty stricken and destitute people to discover solutions to their situation, and provides seed funding to encourage entreprenuership.

Community Care

In kind donations of food, clothing, blankets, toiletries, second hand furniture and other items are distributed to needy members of the community, whilst our iDesk provides access to information and resources that can help them get back on their feet.

Street to Feet

Over 4 500 homeless people live on the streets of Johannesburg, sheltering in doorways and under bridges. We aim to rehabilitate them, by providing transitional housing and basic neccesities while creating opportunities for them to make improved life decisions.

Buyisa Ubuntu Food Bank

Managing one of the largest Food Banks in Gauteng, on behalf of the Department of Social Development, we distribute food parcels, clothing, cleaning supplies and emergency aid to those living in dire poverty, as well as those affected by fires, floods and illness.

Skills Centre

This programme aims to give underserved youth the opportunity to gain marketable skills. We not only train students in technical skills, but also life skills so they are better equipped to become agents of change for themselves and future generations.

Small Business Development

By far the biggest socio-economic challenge in South Africa is the high rate of unemployment. We work with small and micro-business owners to help them to sustain and grow their businesses, by providing training and a vital link between them and funding partners.

Income Generating Projects

Income generation models (e.g. egg farming, bakeries, vegetable gardens) are piloted at Siyabonga Africa and upscaled or replicated to create jobs. Most projects not only provide an income, but also address social or environmental issues such as food security.