Makhulong a Matala
Makhulong A Matala (a seSotho phrase which translates as ‘greener pastures’) is a wholly owned subsidiary of JHC and is responsible for the range of community development and support services that JHC offers its tenants.
Makhulong was established in 2004 and operates with a full-time staff of five people, including management, community development officers and an administrative officer, based at JHC’s head office in downtown Johannesburg.
.
It evolved out of JHC’s community development department which, since 1999, had been working with the JHC tenant community on social concerns, issues around rights, responsibilities and recourse, life skills training and vocational training, focused on income-earning opportunities.
Today, as well as providing day-to-day support services to JHC across a broad range of tenant interactions, Makhulong manages various community programmes and services that meet specific tenant needs.
Among other services, Makhulong offers tenants vocational skills training, financial management training, hardship assistance and counselling on specific social issues.
In addition, community programmes extend from sports and education support programmes for youth and children, to youth groups and special interest groups.
Makhulong’s programmes are aimed at helping residents feel at home in their community, their neighbourhood and in the city, offering people a helping hand as they negotiate what is for many a new way of life.
Makhulong staff work closely with JHC’s Housing Supervisors and volunteer facilitators from the tenant community, to respond to tenants’ needs, to address social discord or other social issues that arise, and to organise cultural and community events. With JHC, Makhulong also plays a key role in the eKhaya Neighbourhood Association in Hillbrow.
Core programmes
- Early Childhood Development Centres
- Learning Centres – Grades R to 7
- Sports Leagues – Soccer and Netball
- Youth Groups
- Men’s Forum
- Women’s Groups
Makhulong operates as a non-profit public benefit organisation. While JHC covers the overhead costs of Makhulong, tenants are required to pay a nominal fee for the extra services where professional service providers are contracted or external facilities and administrative services are required.
