Law student uses NSFAS book allowance to feed 60 children in Limpopo

A 25-year-old law student from Ga-Mohokoni Village in Limpopo has used her R5,800 NSFAS book allowance to open a drop-in centre providing daily meals to about 60 children from poor families.

Thuto Selomo, who runs the Thuto Selomo Organisation, told Simon Majadibodu of IOL that her own difficult upbringing – marked by food insecurity and financial hardship – inspired her to help others in similar circumstances. She said she was also influenced by the work of the late Nigerian televangelist TB Joshua, whom she had watched distributing food parcels to struggling communities.

Selomo's efforts began as informal community outreach, donating sanitary products, uniforms and shoes, before she opened the centre in 2025 and registered it with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and the provincial Department of Social Development. She said witnessing a child walking to school in plastic sandals on a cold winter's day was a turning point.

The centre serves one meal a day, Monday to Friday, to children aged one to 17, and offers a safe space for play and schoolwork support. Selomo runs it with her mother and one other person, and used part of her NSFAS book allowance – intended for study materials – to help fund it, alongside income from a previous job as an assistant teacher and, since her marriage in October 2025, contributions from her husband.

Selomo, who has studied law part-time through Unisa since 2019, said many of the children face difficult home circumstances, including parents with mental health problems. She said community support and donations affirmed that the centre was making a difference, and that she hopes eventually to provide housing as well as meals. She urged others wanting to help their communities to start without waiting for financial security.