Since September our office has experienced a welcome upswing in bookings to use the hall for meetings, events, services and sadly, also many funerals. Bookings play a very important role as a source of income for Iziko Lobomi's upkeep. For almost five months there was no income from this source.

Our office and caretaker ensure that the necessary Covid-protocols are followed and we are very fortunate that all groups that have and are currently using the hall, adhere to these protocols very diligently.

Despite the two-month lockdown and further restrictions, almost thirty Certificates and Diplomas have been issued to successful students so far this year.

It is an absolute pleasure to see how men and women make use of this facility.

Gartner SA sponsors all cost related to Certificate and Diploma online courses. This makes it possible for us to offer this service to the community at almost no cost. Gartner SA has also provided funds for a back-up power supply to help the students during power failures and load shedding. Power failures are a common occurrence in townships because of the many illegal connections that cause shorts and power outages.

We are very grateful for this help from Gartner SA who is the driving force behind everything related to Information Technology at Iziko Lobomi.

Gartner SA also provides funding for computer literacy training in our other facility which is managed by TeboComputers (www.tebocomputers.co.za) which is owned and run by a local entrepreneur, Tebogo Backward. This facility is equipped with 12 desktop computers, all connected to a broad-band Internet connection and printer.

The commitment of the Gartner SA company to Iziko Loobmi over the years has been exceptional and extraordinary. They were one of the first businesses to provide funds for our first computer room as far back as 1997.

A container which has been used as joinery and carpentry workshop for many years became available to be refurbished into a much needed store room for our office.

With a donation received from a local long-time supporter, we were able to replace the old timber floor with concrete and new vinyl tiles. This room is situated directly across our office and will primarily be used to store our food supplies which we use for daily meals and food parcels.

Almost a hundred needy men and women receive a cooked meal from our kitchen everyday and almost 200 food parcels are given out to needy families in the community every month.

Our 2020 Annual General Meeting had to be postponed with four months because of the the Covid-19 restrictions on meetings and travels. The meeting was held on Wednesday the 21st October 2020.

Because of this new date, we could combine it with the 80th birthday celebration of one of our key founding ladies, Marion Franke. Her birthday was the week before on the 15th of October.

Happy Birthday Marion!

(From left to right: Bridgette Mangcu, Marion Franke and Lesley McCall)

At the meeting it was proposed for our outgoing vice-chairperson, Archbishop Griffiths Mketo to be elected Honorary Vice-President of the HBCCA. He was also granted Honorary Lifelong Membership.

For the first time Honorary Lifelong Memberships were granted during the meeting to:

Marion Franke, Arch. Griffiths Mketo and Arch. Nicholas Ndude.

The Membership was granted to them in gratitude for their exceptional, long-time dedication and service to the HBCCA and the community of Imizamo Yethu.

Archbishop Ndude has been confined to his bed for the past five months due to his worsening condition of tuberculosis.

We received the sad news in October that our dear friend and builder of Iziko Lobomi, Michael (Mike) Hendrick, passed away at his home in Robertson on the 11th October 2020, after suffering from two strokes. Mike was 74 years old and left his dear wife Brenda, three children (Wayne, Andrew and Julie-Anne) and three grandchildren (Daniel, Ryan and Maya) behind. Mike and Brenda celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in April earlier this year.

Mike was a member of the St. Peters Anglican Church. In the early 1990's, Rev. John Frye at St. Peters played a key role in mobilising all the churches in Hout Bay to form a body to take responsibility for the funding, erection and running of a community centre in Imizamo Yethu.

This resulted in the formation of the Hout Bay Christian Community Association in March 1994 and the inauguration of Iziko Lobomi in October 1996.

Mike on the left, standing next to his foreman at the entrance to Iziko Lobomi during the construction

of in 1996.

The song 'Jerusalema', a South African gospel song made in South Africa by producer DJ and artist Master KG featuring Nomcebo Zikode is currently taking the world by storm. When this song was released in 2019 it became an instant hit in South Africa after which it went viral and inspired groups all around the world to enjoy some vibrant dancing allowing them to forget about the sorrows of COVID-19 ;-)

The black eThekwini Metro police women, dancing in this video are from Durban and was celebrating Women's Day with their energetic dance at South Beach earlier this year.

Pakamisa Lucas

Kitchen Manager

Veronica Valashiya

Kitchen Volunteer

Another large fire tore through the community of Imizamo Yethu on Sunday morning the 6th September 2020. Before firefighters could put the blaze out, 270 homes were destroyed leaving 800 men, women and children homeless.

One of Iziko Lobomi's staff members (Pakamisa Lucas) and a lady volunteer Veronica Valashiya, both lost their homes in this fire. For Veronica, this will be the third time in eight years that she will have to start from nothing again. She already lost two of her other previous homes in similar fires in Imizamo Yethu.

The HBCCA assisted victims together with a local NGO, Thula Thula NPC, www.thula-thula.org  who assist people involved in disasters. They have a very dedicated group of volunteers and are extremely well organised.

It is wonderful to see how things are slowly returning back to some normality at Iziko lobomi.

Authorities reckon that the Western Cape and South Africa have passed its Corona Virus peak with the latest Level 2 that was announced by our President Cyril Ramaphosa on the 18th of August 2020. The national daily death rate came down from 572, when it was at the peak on 22nd July to only 49, on the 12th Sep.

For many experts, the lower than expected peak of total COVID-19 infections and deaths in South Africa and the rest of Africa, is a mystery. Many give the abundance of sunlight with the high levels of Vitamin D as one of the main reasons. However, many Africans throughout the continent and in South Africa are very religious and God-fearing people. We firmly believe this also played a role because this is what Psalm 91 promises:

Late President Nelson Mandela would have been so proud of the group of people that got together at Iziko Lobomi on Saturday the 18th July 2020. A group of local volunteers who only have one desire and that was to bless the people of Imizamo Yethu with their service, skills and enthusiasm for healthy, self-sustainable living.

Parents and adults have the responsibility to set the example for the younger generation to learn them from a young age the secret in serving and giving. This behaviour is the root of the Ubuntu principal which is engraved on the African man's DNA.

For Christians, Jesus' example and words also spurs them into action in this regard:

'Give, and it will be given to you.' Luke 6:38 and

'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' Acts 20:35

21 May 2020

This is where Cape Town's Covid-19 'hot spots' are

Jenni Evans

Five areas within the Cape Town metro have been identified as "hot spots" by the Western Cape government.

Lit up with red dots on maps of suburbs, the province has revealed where clusters of Covid-19 cases are being detected in the metro.

The province has recorded over 11 000 cases of the virus as at 13:00 on Thursday.

Deaths in the province stood at 235, though 5 677 people had recovered from the virus.

 In a digital press conference on Wednesday, the province said it believed that having 62.6% of the national number of cases simply means that community transmission "seeded" earlier in the Western Cape, and that other provinces could soon follow suit.

They had identified clusters of outbreaks as "hot spots" and have focused testing, screening, tracing, support, and prioritising treatment of the most vulnerable from these hot spots.

Most of the cases in the province are among essential service workers, such as in the retail sector, and the projections by the province's experts are that 90% of people will have no or mild symptoms.

It is hoping to manage those cases through self-isolation and quarantine where possible.

We have been prepared by the Government that coming to grips with this virus pandemic will be a long process and that there are no shortcuts or quick fixes.

According to the latest Lockdown Levels, no public gatherings will be permitted in any of the three remaining levels. In other words, no public meetings at Iziko Lobomi will be  allowed till the country has been declared safe for normal 'business-as-usual'.

YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED

The lockdown is already having a negative impact on our income. Our average monthly income from our office for hall bookings, conference room rentals, small-trader fees and office services is approximately R6,000.

Our private individuals and supporting churches are currently our only source of income which we are enormously grateful for.

You are literally keeping Iziko Lobomi's doors open.

Thank You Very Much! Enkosi kakhule!