The mayor of the Makhado municipality, Cllr Mavhungu Luruli assisted councillors and officials when renovating a house for the young refugees who are being cared for by Father Frank Gallagher of the Mission of the Sacred Heart. They also donated food to the centre.

Luruli said the municipality decided to support this project as part of the call to dedicate 67 minutes of their time towards charity. The shelter currently accommodates 17 young boys from Zimbabwe. They donated food, clothing and helped to renovate the shelter.

Mayor Luruli said governance was all about caring for people and being sensitive to their needs. "We are what we are because of our people and it is very important to assist them whenever the need arises," she said.

The mayor also expressed her concern towards the xenophobic attacks that were occurring. “Last year our country was confronted by a serious political challenges that resulted in innocents being attacked and killed under the guise of xenophobia. Today, thousands of women and children are destitute and sleeping in the open during this cold and vicious winter. Let us think about it; they are our brothers and sisters,” she said. She said the perpetrators of these evil deeds exploited a vulnerable sector of the people, namely the unemployed, the youth and people with little or no political understanding to advance their evil agendas. “I want to urge all people of this municipality to unite, identify, expose and deal with these people decisively in order to root them out from communities. I want to indicate that crime in its entirety violates our people´s human rights and we must indeed get all our people to mobilize against the scourge,” she concluded.

Father Frank Gallagher of the Mission of the Sacred Heart said that although the governmentwais doing its best to fight poverty, there was still much to be done as there were still people who went to bed on empty stomachs. "Partnerships of this nature between our municipality and non-profit organisations are bearing fruit because they are alleviating poverty in our communities," he said.

Gallagher thanked the sponsors for their kind hearts. "They have displayed what community building is all about and I believe that others will follow suit. This will send a strong message to the community that it is good to come together and assist those who cannot do anything for themselves."

A good Samaritan, who has been donating clothes and food to the disabled and needy people of Zimbabwe, has urged other community members to help South Africa´s troubled African neighbour. He said he was touched by the conditions of the innocent young Zimbabweans who were lingering around the town. Since he became aware of their plight, he had been collecting old and used clothes from community members and asked for donations.