Chief Mbangiseni Alfred Tshishonga of Tswinga outside Thohoyandou is fast endearing himself to his subjects.
He is a typical Vhafuwi, a Venda royal title given to traditional leaders, which loosely translates as one who takes care.
Faced with a daily influx of needy people coming to the royal palace for assistance, the chief is always trying to find ways to help the poor and the needy in his village. Early last year, he enlisted the help of Indian businesspeople from around Thohoyandou and handed many school uniforms and shoes to needy learners from all the local schools. During the past weekend, together with businesspeople under the Venda Muslim Jamaat, he handed over food parcels that included a 25kg bag of maize meal and other basics such as fish oil to 140 needy families.
The handover took place at his royal residence on Sunday. Indian businesspeople, led by well-known businessman Mr Vaheed Patel, arrived with a truck full of groceries. They also brought along treats for the children at the local drop-in centre.
The function started with a mass prayer for rain in the drought-stricken Western Cape.
Patel said they started a project last year to help the needy and have so far assisted more than 1 700 families. "We work together with communities and traditional leaders, who identify the less advantaged, and each month we give out food parcels to 140 families. We will keep on identifying needy communities and help where possible. Our other wish is to start self-sustaining projects in villages, so that the residents could sustain themselves," he said.
Chief Tshishonga could not hide his excitement during the function. "I am going to sleep peacefully tonight, knowing that my people have food. We always have poor people here who need help. As you can see, we are in the most rural area and many are not working. We are very grateful as a community to have good Samaritans like these who are always ready to help," he said.