DONATE
DONATE

At Ikageng We Water the Seeds of Our Future Leaders,
One Child at a Time.

1
Children
Supported
1
Families
Supported
JOIN US

About Us

Uplifting
children since 2001

Based in Orlando West, Soweto, we believe in giving children the hope and opportunities they need to be the best they can be.

Supporting The Orphaned
and Vulnerable

We believe that the most important vehicles of social change are the effective delivery of health, nutrition, education and social services.

Using A Community
Development Approach

We aim to address historical imbalances through collective empowerment, which help the marginalised to regain control over their lives.

Join us and make a difference in the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa.

“My future doesn’t depend on my background but on my approach. I will achieve my dreams through education. Education is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
EugeneIkageng Beneficiary
“I didn’t have a happy childhood, I felt as if I was being punished until I met Ikageng. The boys’ mentorship programme helped me to regain my confidence, I mean it really saved my life and also gave me guidance on how to be a respected young man.”
MosesIkageng Beneficiary
“All I have asked for are opportunities granted and I promise to make the best out of them, so that I too can one day have such an impact on hundreds of children’s lives. I express my deepest gratitude to Ikageng.”
NoluthandoIkageng Beneficiary
“I am now a better and more positive version of myself. When I am done with High School, I want to be a social worker because through Ikageng all my hopes and dreams are alive.”
Ikageng Beneficiary
Previous
Next

OUR WORK

Ubuntu & Upliftment

At Ikageng we believe the provision of effective education and health care services are the most powerful means of alleviating poverty in South Africa. Working together with the Departments of Education, Social Development and Health, as well as local authorities, we have rolled out a number of programmes and interventions at personal, family, community and civic levels.

Our Primary Support Programmes

EDUCATION

Ikageng ensures its beneficiaries are placed in institutions of learning and development, from Early Childhood Development (ECD) until tertiary level. The programme aims to improve access to education, by providing funds for tuition, school uniforms, transport, after-school assistance and support for those with special needs. Ikageng encourages parents and caregivers to be more interested in their children's education, which can be a crucial motivator for continued attendance and high performance.

NUTRITION

One of the key challenges for vulnerable children in Soweto is being able to afford nutritious food. This becomes even more important for those children living with HIV and AIDS who are on Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART). Ikageng provides beneficiaries with nutritious food parcels on a monthly basis, and has helped to create and run numerous nutritional gardens so that families can produce the food they need for themselves.

PSYCHOSOCIAL

Psychosocial support is implemented in all programme areas. Ikageng conducts new intake assessment screenings, facilitates general and bereavement counselling, and conducts workshops, forums and awareness campaigns on child protection. Additionally, Ikageng works with the Department of Social Welfare to screen and support foster guardians who can provide accommodation for the orphaned and vulnerable children across their programmes.

HEALTH

Ikageng gives care and support to children and adults who have chronic conditions by facilitating proper diagnosis through supervised clinic referrals and ensuring patients on Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) are transported to appropriate clinics and hospitals on a monthly basis. Home visits and basic home care is also conducted to ensure adherence to treatment, in addition to health screening services and support groups for Retroviral Diseases (RVD).

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Ikageng provides support for young people addicted to drugs and other harmful substances through referral services and assessment for rehabilitation facilities, financial support for medication and rehabilitation stay, as well as running after-care programmes for those who have completed the formal rehabilitation process.

SPORT

Ikageng Football Club started as a boys’ mentorship programme in 2006 with McKinsey & Company. The programme combined mentorship with a relationship-building game of soccer, that really helped participants become more independent and created cohesion and compassion amongst the diverse group of participants.

Our Story

Ikageng was founded by Carol Dyanti (“Mum Carol”) in 2001 in Orlando West, Soweto. Through her work as a home-based care provider in Soweto, she saw an increasing number of children left to fend for themselves and knew she had to intervene.

Many of these children had lost their parents and guardians to HIV and AIDS, and were now living in single parent-headed, grandparent-headed or child-headed households, exposed to crammed living conditions, poor sanitary conditions, inadequate food, and rampant drug and alcohol abuse. By providing for all their basic needs, Ikageng relieved some of the pressure and despair faced by children who, having lost parents, are forced to take on adult roles.

Ikageng’s model is unprecedented as its interventions aim to preserve the integrity of the remaining family unit. Instead of breaking families up, Ikageng provides the resources and services needed to maintain the family unit, keeping siblings together in their own homes. Based on the South African government’s social policy of cluster homes, Ikageng’s community-based model of care builds a strong family unit and ultimately ensures that the children have a stable support system to help sustain them through difficult times.

Ikageng Itireleng means ‘help them help themselves’, which is exactly what our organisation has been doing for more than 15,000 orphaned and vulnerable children since we were established.

THABISO CHAUKE

CHAIRPERSON
Former beneficiary of Ikageng, Chauke currently works for the Government of the Republic of South Africa. He is the founder and former chairperson of #1MilSchoolShoes Campaign and a board member of the Nongoma Foundation Trust.

SASEKANI MAXOPANI

Deputy Chairperson
Maxopani has 10 years of cooperate experience and currently works for a global FMCG business. She has worked with business units in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands, and has a passion for impacting and changing lives through all available platforms.

Tumelo Mogapi

TREASURER
Tumelo Mogapi has experience in credit risk management in the financial industry. She holds a BCom degree in Economics and Risk Management and a BCom (Hons) in Risk Management. Her passion lies in helping young people maximize their potential, this way they’ll be well equipped to grow their communities.

Nokuphiwe Saba

Board Secretariat
10 years experience in the financial industry. Holds a BCOM degree in Human Resources Management. Passionate about doing volunteering work having volunteered at various NGOs and driving sanitiary pad initiatives.

NANA NKOSI

Nkosi has 6 years of experience in the business sector, holding a BSc in informatics. She is an associate member of the Business Continuity Institute and currently works for Vodacom SA as a business continuity specialist. Previously she worked for Ernst & Young as a Business Management Associate.

SANDILE SHANGE

Former beneficiary of Ikageng, Shange currently works for a management consulting firm within the ICT space, where he serves as a Senior Business Analyst. In 2006, he co-founded Soweto’s Finest.

CAROL DYANTYI

Chief Executive
Dyantyi is the founder of Ikageng. She couldn’t matriculate at Morris Isaacson due to the Soweto Uprising in 1976, but eventually managed to completed her matric in 1993. She has a Diploma in Community Development from the University of Johannesburg and a course in HIV/AIDS Counselling through UNISA.

Sello Hatang

Hatang is a former Senior Manager at Human rights Commission, Former director of the South African history archives, he also served as Spokesperson. He currently serves as the Chief Executive officer for the Nelson Mandela Foundation

Mteto Nyati

Nyati has worked for multinational IT companies such as IBM, he is also a former MD of Microsoft SA, and former CEO of MTN SA. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Altron group

Sinako Bomela

Bomela was appointed in 2016 as a law researcher for Justice Jafta at the Constitutional Court of SA, she also served as a researcher for the Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. She now serves as a law researcher in the supreme court of Appeal and she is the founder of Sinako we can project.

Contact Us

+27 11 536 0681

ovcare@ikageng.org.za

Address: Orlando West People's Centre
8299 Mahalefele & Sisulu Road Orlando West, Soweto South Africa