​The Gauteng Department of Social Development, Tshwane Region concluded this season’s Winter Warmers Campaign drive and distributed blankets and food to about 100 homeless people at Sinovich Dam, Daspoort, in Pretoria.
Speaking on the sidelines of the program 45-year-old beneficiary, Sonnyboy Mathebula, originally from Bungeni village in Giyani, Limpopo, related his ordeal of being mugged and injured before becoming homeless, which led him to seeking shelter on the streets of Pretoria.

Mathebula said, “I was a street vendor for more than four years until in June when I was robbed and got injured. As a result, I lost all my belongings and stock. Today, I’m grateful to the Department for giving me food and a blanket which I will utilize to keep warm. Before I used sheets only, even in the cold winter days”.

He said he wishes to go back home once healed.

40-year-old Sharon Theron, a mother of two, was also one of the recipients of a blanket and soup. Theron comes from Durban and was equally thankful for the donation and said, she’s eternally grateful to the department and encourages the officials to keep up the great job of taking care of the needy.

She said together with her husband, who lost his job at a battery store due to Covid 19, relocated to Pretoria early this year and had found life in Gauteng extremely difficult.

Senzi Mahlangu, an Auxiliary Social Worker in a Non-Profit Organization based in Pretoria Central, which is funded by the department, said “As a homeless drop-in center, we offer dignity packs, showers, food, skills development programs, and social work services and we further assist them with applications for ID documents, grants, and placement referrals”.