From urban gardens to waste recycling and gender-based violence (GBV) support zones, Isisisombululo, roughly translated to “the solution”, a community-based nonprofit in Reeston, is reshaping lives through grassroots action.
Founded in 2018 by Nobom Nini, a nurse by profession, the organisation works across Buffalo City with a focus on empowering women and youth through locally-driven initiatives.
“These combined problems have affected people’s safety and wellbeing, showing that there is an urgent need for long-term solutions that come from within the community,” Nini said.
Isisisombululo operates 21 community gardens, involving 146 participants, many of whom receive monthly stipends.
The gardens not only provide food and income but foster skills development and food security.
“We have adopted six high school students who major in science, we motivate, coach them, and expose them to the medical world to gain experience,” Nini said.
The nonprofit also offers life skills training, sewing, waste management, and cleaning and beautification of public spaces.
A GBV-free zone provides access to counselling and professional psychological support.
“Over the years, I’ve come to realise that most youngsters use crime and drugs as an escape from reality, a way to run away from the issues they face on a daily basis,” Nini said.
In a move rarely seen in employment programmes, the organisation includes participants aged 36 to 59, a group often overlooked by government youth-targeted initiatives.
The waste management programme creates job opportunities while improving public health and the environment.
“She empowers the youth to become independent, which also helps in the fight against GBV; she believes that the more financially independent women are, the less vulnerable they become to abuse,” Nolubabalo Fumbatha, who nominated Nini for the Daily Dispatch Local Hero Awards, said.
Fumbatha, a young nonprofit director herself, said Nini also helped support emerging organisations.
“Her work gives us a sense of belonging and importance.”
For Anelisa Vumazonke, 30, the programme has been a lifeline.
“Ever since I finished high school, I have never received any income from any form of employment,” she said.
“When I started here, I was able to provide for my daughter while also contributing financially at home.”
Vumazonke participates in sewing, garden service and recycling projects, converting waste into products for resale.
“I live in a household of 11 people who are unemployed and mainly dependent on social grants, so the programme really made a difference for me and my family,” she said.
Born in Butterworth and now based in Reeston, Nini says she was moved to act by growing unemployment, crime and substance abuse in the area.
She has since built working relationships with stakeholders including Buffalo City Metro, Gift of the Givers and the Siphethubomi clinic and is carving out practical responses to urgent local challenges.
Daily Dispatch
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