What Masakhe does

MASAKHE (Xhosa: We build) is a community self-empowerment organisation in Nyanga East and Lower Crossroads.

MASAKHE has emerged as a response to our difficult economic situation in the townships. There are not enough jobs for people and unemployment is very high. We came together as concerned community members and decided to form an organisation to help ourselves and many others who are desperately looking for income. Our organisation was registered as a NPO in February 2011.

Many of our members are young women and men who have arrived in Cape Town from the Eastern Cape. They were dreaming about a job in Cape Town and they now realise that there are no jobs. Many young women have matric but no skills. Others are young mothers who have dropped out of school and feel ashamed.

Our aim is therefore to instill our members with a sense of self-worth, self-respect, dignity and hope for a future.

We aim to help our members find employment and a steady income . To have an income and a daily task gives a person dignity. We are particularly concerned about our youth since without a job it is easy for them to drift into the world of alcohol and fall prey to drug dealers.

We aim to improve the English of our members as many have arrived from rural areas and struggle to communicate in English. Without English, they cannot apply for jobs such as a gardener or housekeeper.

In order to achieve our vision, we have a management team of six volunteers who steer the project and are responsible for initiating programs.