Durban-based rugby team, the Sharks, is providing hunger-fighting organisation SA Harvest with much-needed warehouse space to store the food it donates to the needy.

Lindsay Hopkins, SA Harvest’s KZN operations manager, said the organisation went through a difficult time during the July unrest in 2021.

Their warehouse in Briardene was too near the scenes of violence, making it difficult for them to offer assistance to the communities they catered for.

Hopkins said she phoned the management of Kings Park Stadium — home of the Sharks — to ask if they could put up a tent in which to store their supplies.

SA Harvest then went from using 200 square metres of warehouse space to having access to more than 1,000 square metres.

But their problems weren’t over. Due to the looting, the organisation was unable to source a tent big enough for their purposes. They even struggled to find a forklift.

“There was no forklift stock in the whole of KZN. So everything around that operation was a logistical nightmare,” said Hopkins.

They also had to expand by another 500 square metres as more food donations were coming in. Fortunately, a warehouse was built for them.

The new arrangement at Kings Park came with added benefits such as having 24-hour security — and when they came to collect food, beneficiaries had a chance of seeing the Sharks players.

“Young aspiring Sharks are coming from these vulnerable spaces. Our beneficiaries get to see this and through that, they get shown there is hope,” said Hopkins.

Help for the hungry

The KZN wing of the organisation helps feed poor communities in several parts of the province.

Hopkins said there was a great need for assistance as many households in KZN were headed by children. Many families had lost jobs due to Covid.

Families receive at least three meals a day from SA Harvest, depending on the number of donations they have in stock. 

Apart from families, they also assist the homeless.

In rural areas such as KwaHlabisa, Jozini and Mtubatuba, some communities are without water and electricity, making their situation even more dire.

Three-year partnership

Hopkins said the partnership with the Sharks ensured they could keep more food in a safe space. As part of their three-year partnership agreement, SA Harvest will be able to help even more people by assisting the rugby franchise with its own initiative, Hands of Hope.

Sharks CEO Eduard Coetzee said the work done by SA Harvest made it easy for the team to partner with them.

“SA Harvest does great and meaningful work, which has made it very easy for the Sharks to align and partner. The Sharks have welcomed SA Harvest to Hollywoodbets Kings Park by building a permanent warehouse for SA Harvest to operate from.

“SA Harvest has committed to assisting the Sharks Foundation and our Hands of Hope initiative by providing 45,000 meals quarterly to registered NPOs and local communities that the Sharks support around the greater Durban area. 

“This is huge for the Sharks, as it will allow us to make the relationships sustainable and really help those in need with essential food products,” said Coetzee.

Nosipho Matiwane, manager of Meals on Wheels in Georgedale, Hammarsdale — an organisation benefiting from the partnership between the Sharks and SA Harvest — said the move had made things easier for them as it had been difficult to access the old warehouse in Briardene.

The organisation provides meals for communities in and around Hammarsdale. Sometimes they offer food to children as young as three months old, with the help of SA Harvest.

Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations

Dumile Mageqa, 29, a project manager with Mission Thando, an NPO based in Avoca Hills, said the benefits of the partnership had been great for the organisation.

“There has been a huge change in the amount of food that we get. This means we can feed more people and expand our reach even further.”

Mission Thando fed more than 200 people a day, said Mageqa. Based in Avoca Hills, the NPO still helps people in neighbouring communities such as KwaMashu.

He said their main focus was on children and people who were on chronic medication, “but you can’t turn away a person who is hungry just because they do not fit the criteria”.

Mageqa said the recent floods and last year’s looting had a huge negative impact on communities.

“This increased the number of people who needed food because some people lost jobs due to the unrest. Some lost everything in the floods,” said Mageqa. DM/MC

Sunday 16 October is World Food Day and Maverick Citizen will be publishing articles throughout the week in commemoration of this, culminating in a special newsletter on Friday 14 October.