Face to face with pounding hunger pangs in Driekoppies

Autumn leaves had just started to fall from the trees when Sowetan ace journalist Mandla Khoza received a shocking call from a friend.

A mother and her five children were on the brink of starvation after she lost her job during the hard level 5 lockdown bought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Without urgent intervention, farmworker Agnes Shabangu and her children would be faced with a cold and hard winter.

"I knew then that I had to tell this story," he said.

Khoza quickly headed to his friend's house in Driekoppies, Mpumalanga, hoping to be introduced to the neighbour who was struggling to get by.

"When I got to her house, I opened the fridge and there was only a 2litre bottle filled with water. There was nothing in that house except a few cups of mielie meal," he said.

Shabangu told Khoza that her children were out fishing, hoping to catch something to satiate their hunger.

"The situation was so bad she wanted to go to loan sharks but she did not even have an income to pay them back, and we knew this would just make her situation worse," he said.

The Sowetan scribe said he became especially emotional when he realised the children saw him as their last hope.

"Children have this strange and special way of communicating when they are in a bad situation. I could tell they thought because I am a new person in their house that I will be helping them," he said.

After the story went viral on social media it was in a strange twist of fate that his own friend and Sowetan reader Thembelihle Shabangu was the first to pledge to help.

"I shared the story on Facebook and Thembelihle inboxed me and asked me for my number. Turns out we are from the same area, went to the same high school and were even in the same choir," he laughed.

When he told Shabangu that people wanted to help, she was in tears. She was helped with food from Thembelihle valued at R1,000 and R500 cash and assisted by the Zamani Foundation.

"She's working now in the area but no longer on farms. Someone from the local area asked her to come and work in his company. The local herdman told me they are going to use her in the tribal council and because they rely on a stipend from government they will provide her with food," he said.

Khoza said reporting on touching stories such as that of Shabangu proved how important the media can be in helping communities. "When you read something in the news that touches you, you can do your little bit to help change someone's life," he said.

Driekoppies, where Khoza lives, is one of the poorer parts of Mpumalanga. He said the pandemic had hit it hard.

"The area I come from is very poor and people either work on the farms or in town because there are not a lot of opportunities. The Covid-19 pandemic really brought these stories to light," he said.