Sibiya decided there and then to open a soup kitchen that didn’t just serve soup.
When Zanele Sibiya was still a food and beverages operations student with the school of tourism and hospitality at the University of Johannesburg she had a chance encounter with a homeless man.
She gave him food that she had prepared during one of her classes and the homeless man exclaimed that it was going to be the first time in his life that he’d be eating food prepared by a chef.
SowetanLIVE spoke to Sibiya in her hometown of Mamelodi, where she was one of two people being honoured by Nestle Bar One for its One Starter campaign. The campaign has identified 60 people that are making a difference in their community by starting an initiative that has benefited the community.
These One Starters as the brand has called them have a mural painted in their honour in the community, at these murals the community gets to enjoy free WiFi. They can also find out more about the campaign using a QR code on the murals.
Now a businesswoman, the 27-year-old Sibiya is also a motivational speaker, tutor and runs an organisation called the Za Development Trust where she says she aims to develop people. The organisation is a subsidiary of her business Za Elite Food and Bev Solutions. Once a month Sibiya offers food to the destitute at an informal settlement near the University of Pretoria Mamelodi campus.
Source: Chance meeting with homeless person changes young chef’s life