Touching Acts NPO
About Us
Touching Acts is a Mthatha based Not-for-profit Organisation which was founded by concerned citizens after having witnessed the inhumane living conditions of families who lived in eTipini. These families were later relocated to a place called Sowetho just behind Mthatha Plaza in a municipal electricity sub-station in the year 2012
These families had erected shacks in a decommissioned landfill area after they had started scavenging the site for any materials they can sell. They went to the landfill site seeking means to make a living after their adventures to secure employment opportunities had failed, coming from rural areas in and around Mthatha.
Touched by this, Touching Acts was established and has been closely working with this community of just under 100 families dating back to 2002. The establishment has seen the successful registration of 20 children at a multiracial school in Mthatha, St. Patricks Primary school, under the capable hands of Mr Madiloyi, the school principal. Also, children have settled at a boarding home just outside the city’s CBD and there, the children receive the best care. During holidays and weekends, parents visit the boarding home to spend some time with the children or the children would visit their homes.
This can all be attributed to Zintle Noluyolo Mehlomakhulu (34), a registered auditor by profession, who saw the need and determined to bring about change. Ms Mehlomakhulu has found her purpose and this echoes in a featured article on the Daily Dispatch which reads,” I feel this is what I was put on earth to do. For me it is a calling, it is more than a passion”
It is an organisation registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission 2018/068730/08 and the Department of Social Development with NPO number 255-877 NPO. It caters for a total number of 20 children, made up of 9 boys and 11 girls doing between Grade R and Grade 9.
Vision
Previously disadvantaged children to become world-class leaders.
Mission
To be a gateway for the society in assisting needy children by providing them with quality education, basic needs, leadership skills, spiritual upliftment, physical and social transformation
Values
Respect | Integrity | Innovative | Christ Centered | Ethical | Confidentiality
Our Founding Scripture
Isaiah 58: 10-12
”10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: 11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”
Corporate Governance
The organisation accounts to a board of directors that comprises of individuals with vast experience in the private and public sector, psychology, auditing, management, finance and community building. The composition of the board subscribes to the recommendations of King IV code on corporate governance and other prescripts of the Companies Act 38 of 2008.
Sowetho Community
The inhabitable and inhumane conditions this community lives in
Exciting news! The organisation has successfully registered as a Public Benefit Organisation with the South African Revenue of Services.
What does it mean for me as an individual or a business?
For cash donations to the value not exceeding R 100 000, you can get an exemptions in terms of Section 56 of the Donations Act of South Africa and for gifts not exceeding R 10 000, juristic persons can receive a taxable deduction or up to 10% of the company’s taxable income on the value of the donation. At the end of the tax period, the organisation will issue a Section 18A certificate to all its donors and in return, a tax deduction accrues! Also, the recognition of a socially responsible person/ company is a desirable designation to hold.
Noluyolo Zintle Mehlomakhulu was only 12 years old when she first set foot at eTipini, after seeing how the community was living below poverty line, she pleaded with her parents to donate her Christmas clothes to a destitute girl of her age.
In 2017, Mehlomakhulu launched Touching Acts together with three other women, Anelisiwe Mehlomakhulu, Siziwe Mayoyo and Sibongile Gqaleni- Mhlathi. The women have nurtured Touching Acts since their high school days as Mehlomakhulu would rally fellow students to, during school holidays, donate clothes and food to families from eTipini and to also assist school children with study lessons. The project continued even during varsity and they worked with students from university of Fort Hare and youth from local church by the name of Ngangelize Assembly of God.
This small community is heavily affected by gender-based violence and alcohol abuse, which leads to an increase in crime. Some children from Sowetho have experienced scenes of horrific killings and brutal assaults.
Because of an absent parent, children of this community are deprived of love, care, affection and guidance.
We exist to be the missing link on their lives by being a gateway between them and the many citizens who are willing to express love and share the little they have in order to make someone else’s life better. All in the name of “Ubuntu”.
Our key Focus Areas
- To provide a safe environment for the children
- To ensure that children get a quality education
- To provide basic needs (clothes, food, and other necessities) for children
- To conduct counselling sessions for children with social workers
- Fundraising
Main Donors
- OR Tambo District Municipality
- Arm In Arm Africa
- Link Pharmacy
- Ms. Thandokazi Staffa CA (SA)
- Ms. Sibabalwe Bebeza CA(SA)
- and private donors
Our team
We have a team of women professionals from across different fields:
Sibongile Gqaleni- Mhlathi
Stakeholder Liason Officer
Holds an Honors Degree in Phycology and works as a Student Councillor.
Siziwe Mayoyo
Public Relations Officer
Currently studies towards obtaining a BTech in Public Relations Management.