COVID-19 support: feeding locals in South Africa 'gangland'

South Africa’s Marc Nicholson’s sports club is famous for its humanitarian initiatives for the locals. The soup kitchen feeds over 300 people in this neighbourhood ridden with gang violence.

This time the club has launched a daily feeding programme in the Cape Town suburb of Lavender Hill to support vulnerable groups as the country battles COVID-19.

Mark Nicholson, founder of the Lavender Hill sports and recreational foundation, spoke about the initiative: “What’s going on here is a normal day of food distribution.

“Every day, at one o’clock, we feed about 320 people. It goes up to 350 with those who come after. That’s what we do every day, as part of COVID-19.”

With this initiative, the sports coach and priest has been able to achieve what the law enforcement consider, a daunting operation. The feeding program has sparked, grounds for solidarity among the gangs.

“When they come, it’s for food. They respect what we do here, they come and they leave in peace. They won’t come because they respect me, they respect what we do, and the people here. They are not going to shoot each other while we are feeding the people here.

Mark Nicholson’s initiative is not only putting smile on the faces of the inhabitants, lives are being changed positively.