With temperatures set to dip again in the coming weeks and the winter far from over, the MEC for Social Development ensured that the basic and immediate humanitarian needs of children and people working and living on the streets are addressed by giving them the gift of warmth.

The National Department of Social Development launched the Winter Warmer Initiative which aimed at ensuring that vulnerable children and adults do not bear the brunt of winter. The MEC for Social Development Mme Happy Joyce Mashamba provided the homeless people on the streets of Polokwane, with blankets and food through an existing soup kitchen at Anglican Church Soup Kitchen,Cnr. Biccard and Jorrisen Streets.

The church hall was filled with vulnerable women, children and mainly men who got the opportunity to interact face to face with the MEC Mme Mashamba and outlined their needs from government. After getting full supper meals they were each given a blanket to cover themselves from the chilly winter. The same initiative is also taken to other towns in the Province where the homeless issue presents itself.