Matilda Tsitsi-Fakazi can’t stop rescuing people.
Eight years ago she rescued herself from hunger and violence in Zimbabwe, and now spearheads a fast-growing rescue mission in Cape Town where a local community regards her as a hero.
With the help of donors she runs five separate social development projects in Masiphumelele township, assisting children and women while brushing aside opposition, even a death threat.
She attributes her success to community volunteers, many of them also refugees, and the invisible support of her ancestors. “We have grown a lot and I am deeply grateful. We struggle, but donations come in, sometimes when we are still wishing for it,” Tsitsi-Fakazi said at her small day-care centre in a potholed cul-de-sac.
Rows of sleeping infants in a nursery room adjoin a second classroom where toddlers interact with a volunteer teacher. There’s also a small kitchen and classroom area decorated with children’s art and English spelling words. Tsitsi-Fakazi lives alongside it in a small two-bedroomed house with her husband and baby daughter.
She hopes her personal triumph against adversity, past and present, can inspire the many women in her community suffering gender-based violence and abuse.
“My first husband was an abuser. I was a victim of circumstance and suffered all forms of abuse in that marriage,” she said of her experience in Zimbabwe. “But having been exposed to violence, I want to prove that as an African woman with no resources and no support system you can still work hard and overcome poverty and stand in your power. You can say, ‘this is not how my story should end, I have a chance to start over my life regardless of the influence of violence’.”
Tsitsi-Fakazi worked as a teacher in Zimbabwe, earning barely enough to survive. Her story in South Africa started in 2016 when she settled in Masi with her new partner. Three years later, shortly before the Covid-19 lockdown, she founded an NGO to raise awareness about gender-based violence, but soon realised that her neighbours had more pressing concerns — they were hungry. “We were feeding sandwiches to about 40 children. We thought it would be a few weeks, but then we realised it would be longer and longer. People were suffering in their homes, and so with the support of another NPO we started a community kitchen.”
Before long they were feeding about 450 people.
I want to prove that as an African woman with no resources and no support system you can still work hard and overcome poverty and stand in your power.
— MatildaTsitsi-Fakazi
Covid-19 also highlighted the epidemic of gender-based violence, with many women suddenly less able to escape their abusers. In response Tsitsi-Fakazi created women circles and a skills-development programme, encouraging them to become more independent. She also set up a crèche to support women needing to work to support themselves.
“Post-Covid-19 we had to call in the community members to find out what is the way forward. Then we realised that most of us who have exited toxic relationships don’t have a space where we can leave our children so that we can start businesses,” she said.
In addition to the women empowerment programme, Tsitsi-Fakazi also manages a community kitchen and garden, offering assistance to those most in need, notably many living in dire circumstances in informal shacks affected by floods and fires.
Though many of the projects have attracted funding support from donor organisations, such as Breadline Africa and Rotary, more support is needed due to the soaring cost of living.
Tsitsi-Fakazi has had to overcome obstacles in the form of xenophobia and community rivalries, and was once threatened with assassination. In response she organised a “tribal” cooking evening, inviting the community to celebrate diversity and unite within the common purpose of community development. “I said to people that nobody owns this kitchen — it is a community kitchen,” she said. “It opened up some respect and love among the community members. It has been a lot of work and I still face a lot of roadblocks within the community. But I have realised the power I have inside is more powerful than what happens about me.
“I have chosen to be doing this and I am supported in ways I don’t understand.”
Her success has inspired many within the social development sector, notably those who have worked alongside on some of her projects. “Matilda is one of the most incredible women I know, she undertakes everything she does with heart and complete commitment, whether that is growing food, building communities and empowering women,” said sustainability practitioner Stefanie Swanepoel.
Film and TV consulting producer Jemima Spring said Tsitsi-Fakazi had persevered to become a linchpin of support in her new community where she was forced to make a living.
Journalist and TV presenter Lenina Cloete-Rassool, host of the TV series The Womxn Show, said Tsitsi-Fakazi had succeeded despite working under strenuous conditions. “She does amazing work. Women who work in communities face so many challenges, particularly with funding, and yet she has kept her doors open and does her things regardless.”
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