Abelusi - News

Extracts from Annual Meeting Reports 2024
Published June 2025

Recent Abelusi CH Activities

This past year my wife and I relocated for a sunnier environment in the South of France but I made it a point in keeping in touch with a sadly distressed hotel & restaurant industry as well as HR tools and practices development in general. When appropriate advice to desperate job seekers as well as hotel and restaurant owners was provided.

For the former, it often consists in dispensing some knowledge on new job finding approaches (intelligent use of AI, how to make better use of networks, and connecting to the right people…); for the later it’s often an exchange on product repositioning and HR related issues.

I am at times solicited through my network for such support, or invited to participate in debates and other times contributing to exchanges on LinkedIn.

Additionally, I continue to coach and work with 2 young persons in their final Masters year on a project which is meant to change the paradigm of Recruitment in the hotel industry. One which will be based on Integrity, Diversity and Equality values as well on Social & Environmental responsibilities.

The Millenium generation is facing unprecedented job market conditions in a world in turmoil in which technology is a help as well as a threat.

If we « seniors » can play a part in building a bridge for the way forward and success of that generation into the future, then we will be helpers rather than observers!

Abelusi KZN NPC Project Activities 2024 and early 2025

1. Community Feeding Community (CfC)

This Project formerly with 12 Community Gardens is headed by Malcolm Brown. The last CfC meeting in 2024 was held on 12 November 2024. Not much money is left from the Absa donation. For the record we acknowledge here with thanks the two donations from ABSA Bank and the expertise of Abelusi members and partners that have enabled the sustainability of communities that have tendered their gardens as well as providing leadership and advice to innumerable informal gardens and one-home-one-garden properties that have developed nearby to them.

It is estimated that 15,000 or more people benefit per month from the Community Feeding Community Project.

One recent development is the installation of a container wherefrom Sibongiseni Mdlalose and his relatives and one-home-one-garden neighbours in his ward sell fresh produce, fruit and vegetables from the only outlet of its kind in the township. A 94 old gogo (grandmother) sells her pumpkins and chillies there.  Donna Forrester, our web designer, who is famous also for her countryside murals in Scotland, sent a design which now proudly distinguishes Sibongiseni’s container complete with his product branding. The artist who worked his painting skills was Siyabonga Xaba who has now become quite in demand. Not only that but the turnover has increased markedly along with the newly developed entrepreneurship and selling skills.

A quote from Sibongiseni is that it is all about their community as a team and as a family. If my neighbour is hungry we must help him and vice versa – we are each and everyone’s carer. The benefits include people saving money with increased health. We are very proud of how far we have come – bringing hope to the community. We are the solution to our own problems. It has become the norm to have a garden with someone to provide the leadership and the values – Champions are being identified and nurtured within aspects of community life.

The Project also received front page publicity in the Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business’s daily publication eBizBlitz :

2. Abelusi Focal Point for People With Disabilities AFPPWD

This Project was initiated in September 2023 and researched with much thought and interaction with an incubator involving interested parties during 2024 culminating in the following in early 2025:

The AFPPWD was formerly launched in Pietermaritzburg on 4 Feb 2025 as a Project of Abelusi KZN NPC.

The meeting was attended by representatives from Abelusi, Project Gateway, ShonaQuipSE as well as 20+ representatives from Institutions, NGOs and Schools who had responded to a survey conducted early in January which confirmed their needs and requirements. The vote for the Focal Point was unanimous by attendees.

This event was followed by planning and launch of the initial leadership body being the AFPPWD Founding Committee at a meeting held on 31 March 2025 at Project Gateway and on Zoom. Members of the Committee include from Abelusi, Di Milford as CEO, Greg Wynn as Coordinator and Thandeka Ntuli, Representative. There are also two Patrons from Project Gateway and ShonaQuipSE (Sue Holmes) and 10 representatives from institutions who participated in the launch who all volunteered to serve on the Founding Committee.

The Meeting agreed to create a Memorandum of Operations as a guiding document which is supported by the Abelusi KZN NPC MOI which in turn relates to the Abelusi Global Statutes. 9 Portfolios (Departments) have been initially identified for each to be the responsibility of a committee member with an output and achievement focus. Meetings will be a mix of face-to-face, Zoom and at the premises of different members. Two communication WhatsApp groups have been created and populated – one for formal directives and the other being collaborative.

We believe it has the potential to be beneficial as a Focal Point, assisting and impacting the ecosystem that serves PWDs to the point where it could be replicated. We wish “all who sail in her” many blessings with much love and reward.

Michael McKay, our Abelusi Ambassador interviewed Shona MacDonald with whom we have discussed the establishment of a Focal Point for PWDs. https://www.worldradio.ch/listen-again/mckay-interview/episode/shona-macdonald/

3. Abelusi Coaching

Our Aims and Principles include that Abelusi provides coaching and mentoring. It was decided, from a marketing perspective that we would stick to “Abelusi Coaching”.

Our track record includes 4 one day training sessions on Leadership and one on Entrepreneurship involving in all over 100 attendees.

2025 started in uMngeni – Howick. This session, was organised by Clair Dinnis involving the Abelusi KZN Chairperson, Jeff Jafta, as the presenter and also with Kate Janse Van Rensburg, the local ward councillor.

34 attendees were presented with their Certificates – well done all around.

Extracts from Annual Meeting Reports 2023
Published July 2024

Recent Abelusi CH Activities

Over the last year the activity has mostly been in the domain of counselling, coaching and consulting on an as-per-need basis, all related to the hotel & restaurant industry.

Some young people have been helped with their internship or job search: sharing some techniques on the current best approaches to achieve that objective, reformatting CVs, writing meaningful motivation letters, making use of AI, making use of the social networks, as well as using personal networks to connect these job seekers with professionals.

Assistance was provided to a former restaurant owner with his own professional reconversion.

Additionally, advice was provided on a hotel project in the South of France in terms of management structure, HR practices, operational issues and so on. Recently work with 2 Masters students was initiated on a project which ambition is to propose a new paradigm for the Recruitment in the hospitality industry.

All this on a voluntary basis for the sake of keeping the mind active, keeping in touch with former industry personnel, sharing knowledge and experience and feeling satisfied if it helps people achieve and hopefully succeed in their projects.

Abelusi KZN NPC Project Activities 2023 and early 2024

1. Community Feeding Community (CfC)

At the beginning of the year the Project formerly involved 4 gardens based in Ashdown, KwaPata, Manor and at Project Gateway. The ‘formal’ gardens are those where a Project Gateway selected and trained Champion with a formal relationship is in place. The ‘informal’ gardens are not counted but include gardens at creches (which have some support) and others which are nearby the formal gardens having learnt by watching and asking including household dwellers who come and ask for seedlings and advice, creating home and garden placements. It is estimated that there are over 40 informal gardens that benefit from the formal ones.
Funding of R150 000.00 was received from ABSA early in February for 5 new gardens that were identified for development. A graphic of these 5 gardens is included below. These include UBI; Kheto in KwaShange; Ward 4 – Aunty Mdlalose; Imbali Stage 1 and SOS
Abelusi KZN started CfC monthly meetings as the project was growing. Overall, 9 gardens were up and running. Tightening up on reporting was implemented to be in line with ABSA reporting format.

The termination of the first project with ABSA ended on schedule in mid-year. Whilst waiting for the second funding to arrive from ABSA gardens continued doing very well with not much support from Gateway or ABELUSI. This showed their sustainability levels. They benefited from Nick and his organic fertiliser and the seed potatoes which Project Gateway arranged for them.

 Negotiations for a further grant from ABSA Bank for the CfC Project commenced in the early part of 2023. A contract was signed in November 2023.

It is estimated that 10,000 or more people benefit from the Community Feeding Community Project.

2. Focal Point for the Disabled

The Abelusi Global president met with Shona MacDonald of ShonaQuipSE in Geneva. From their contact, an idea to explore the formation of a Focal Point for the Disabled was discussed and held over for the new year – 2024

Shona has three daughters, and the middle one was born with a disability. Shona went through challenges to help her daughter achieve mobility, and this led to the establishment of a manufacturing initiative and company. ShonaquipSE presently employs 80+ people manufacturing 7,000 wheelchairs per annum and exporting to seven countries. Shauna’s company also produces user-friendly wheelchairs which are used in smooth and rough terrains. These wheelchairs are available in varied forms to accommodate different disability conditions. Other products the company manufactures include waste trolleys and Taxi Chairs to enable people to be transported by clipping the wheelchair at the back of the taxi. Taxi associations are supportive of this initiative.

During this initial meeting, a need was identified to establish an ecosystem of support for caregivers and therapists focusing on people with disabilities, a One-Stop-Shop or Association. Our expanded partnership involves NGOs, three government departments, schools, specialists, and the private sector. Our strategy is holistic well-being and caring to help communities help themselves. The initiative will provide training, support personnel, share best practices helpful to therapists, mobile outreach clinics, and help parents to understand their rights and responsibilities.

Diagram depicts the ecosystem and services illustrated below. 

3. Abelusi Coaching

Our Aims and Principles include that Abelusi provides coaching and mentoring. It was decided, from a marketing perspective that we would stick to “Abelusi Coaching”. Whilst it is intended to put a project team together to lead the coaching services, this has not materialised formerly.

However, Jeff Jafta, the Abelusi KZN Chairperson very successfully led 3 one day training sessions on Leadership involving over 80 people and an Entrepreneurship class was held for 15 people.
https://abelusi.world/coaches/ webpage has been updated to include coaches and counsellors.

4. Other Projects Considered.

Clair Dinnis heads up Trend Setters in Howick and during the year gave some insight into likely Projects in the Howick CBD, Mpophomeni and Shiyabazali. These projects include a Solar Project initially in the Howick CBD and also creating Industrial Villages. The implication for Abelusi is that these Projects will need manpower and they could be drawn from Abelusi members or prospective members.

Appointment of Ambassadors.

Two Ambassadors were appointed during 2023. These were Peter Kenny based in Geneva and Christine Lanesmith based in Canada.
Unfortunately, Peter had a bad accident during the year leading to him being disabled for some time. Christine continues to investigate the formation of an Abelusi Chapter in Canada. She also recruited the President to be an Ambassador for the Stingray Project. This Project has been in the design phase for a considerable time and now and focuses on producing electricity and clean water from wind using sails. With the current global situation concerning energy the project, with monthly meetings, is focused on deploying the technology.

Derek Alberts of KZN was announced as an Abelusi Ambassador during May 2024. Derek describes himself on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekalberts/) as “an Independent Media Production Professional, Trainer, Tourism expert and Entrepreneur. Several members have known him for 25 years or more especially with his involvement with the Pietermaritzburg and press and organisations.” We were always impressed by his pleasant giving personality, approachability and interest in people and the community to mention a few things.

At the Abelusi Global General Assembly of 23 May 2024 Wanda H. Moore from New Jersey USA was appointed an Ambassador – From LinkedIn: “Ms. Moore is a former Assistant Attorney General and created the Office of Community Justice. She led community policing & engagement efforts, cross-systems integration, and local neighbourhood action. She works with communities to identify issues and address issues using data and research.” She has been involved with assisting the President and Abelusi KZN Board members in outreach for funding and/or partnerships from USA Foundations.

2022 in Summary

Posted on WhatsApp 22/11/16 – John Allen

Recently back in Switzerland having been in SA since February. May I take a couple of posts to tell a success story please. In Nov 2020 a French colleague Henry Vergnaud, retired from the hotel industry, and I established a non-profit Association we call Abelusi Global. (https://abelusi.world). Abelusi is Zulu and Xhosa for shepherds and as the name implies is targeted for Elders to work together for their benefit and the benefit of their communities. Two chapters were started, one in Switzerland also in Nov 2020 and one in KZN headquartered in Pietermaritzburg in Feb 21 after a fairly lengthy process of putting formal structures together. The start-ups were obviously influenced by the Plandemic. Unfortunately, the CH Chapter, which was on the way to creating a Centre of Expertise for the Hospitality industry, is in sabbatical due to illness. The KZN Chapter started slowly with some colleagues who I knew in my time as the Director of the local Chamber of Commerce and Industries willingly joining as members. At the same time, I approached the CEO of Project Gateway, a faith-based association based in the old Pietermaritzburg prison since 1992. I knew them as I had done some leadership training and mentoring for their leadership. I asked Pastor Jabu Mnculwane if he would accept some ‘khehlas’ to help with some of their projects. He agreed so we had some members and something to do. One project concerned the 25 Zulu Kings (Amakhosi) and the other a small gardens project which supported two community gardens in the townships around the City. The later project we advised to change the name to Community Feeding Community and it is that project I would like to pick up on starting in February this year 2022 – in the next post.

In February, upon arrival in SA, Project Gateway (PG) were supporting two community gardens and some gardens at several creches. I asked the PG COO, Di Milford, why she was involved in this project. She replied that in going into the townships she had experienced children who had not eaten for 3 days. That was enough motivation for us. Also, PG, having a footprint in all 40 wards surrounding Pietermaritzburg, had a long-term vision to have similar gardens in a lot more Wards. To help with this vision and to feed more people obviously the pace needed to be picked up. So, we did all the leadership things and had a project management shepherd join us. We started by getting the 2 gardens improving their output and security from the goats. I asked them about security from the two-legged versions and was advised that nobody steals from a community garden – somebody tried once but it never happened again. We got the people from the two gardens championed by Sibongiseni Mdlalose and Dr Liz Thomson together with some other experts. The improvement in output started overnight also keeping in mind that the gardens were all organic. Our way forward included creating two greenfield gardens for us to all learn together. One large garden was identified in another ward together with a training garden in the prison grounds together with some helpers knowledgeable in permaculture techniques from nearby institutions.

Now we were involved in 4 Wards – 36 to go. We trained 40 people in leadership positions from the 4 wards in leadership and commitment. We trained entrepreneurship to 20 people. Mamas were coming from their homes to ask for seedlings, ‘home & garden’ set ups appeared nearby, other gardens started without any support from us. One garden was supporting 70 child-headed households 3 times a week. Gardens also appeared outside more creches, outside libraries and clinics. We were told that an energy had been created by us and people were getting involved. Remember this area had previously been torn apart by riots, burning malls followed by heavy destructive storms which communities have not recovered – even today.

Today there are now over 30 gardens being supported. With the recent heavy rains one community garden provided 1000 cabbages to their neighbourhood. Being brief, our strategy to get to all wards is to look for business partners to help in a Ward or group of Wards (Divisions). Outreaches to a large industry and one of the major banks have been made and a function is being arranged inviting major local business and financial institutions to introduce them to the project and possible involvement. The bank visited and they were impressed – with their end-of-year kitty they are funding the establishment of 5 new gardens in new Wards – one of them will potentially feed 400 kids. Their leadership are being trained as I write. The neighbouring town of Howick has approached Project Gateway and Abelusi to help them. Interactions have started there to establish 3 new gardens. The Project is called Community feeding Community and the emphasis is on Community. We have learned and are passing on the methodology. You cannot go into an area and just put in a garden if you want the initiative to be sustained. Champions need to be found, relationships built and the community must make the decisions with support. The motto started as “Reducing Poverty and Hunger”. A police commissioner from the South Coast interacted with us saying that the community gardens in their experience reduced crime. Now the motto is “Reducing Poverty, Hunger, Fear and Crime”.

Abelusi promotes opportunities for retirees. Extract from ’The BizNews Insider’ 21 Sept 2021

Full article on The Biz News Insider

Abelusi (Zulu for Shepherds) currently has two Chapters with its major operational pilot being Abelusi KZN NPC, legally constituted and currently based in Pietermaritzburg. It was started nearly a year ago and, whilst things in current operational conditions take a while to get going, they are now involved in providing “extra hands” in two major projects with Project Gateway. One is involved with the history of the 25 Amakhosi whilst the other is the Community Feeding the Community Project (CfC). The latter now has a detailed strategic plan which involves up to 39 wards and will impact +/- 600,000 people. It currently has two pilot gardens, 17 creches with gardens and has had the first operational meeting with funding to deploy 2 Greenfield sites. It has been a small start but other outreaches include negotiating some minor projects, exploring synergies with women in Business, offering training and mentoring, planning to approach local government structures and starting new Chapters – discussions currently being held in Cape Town. Internationally we have a partnership with United Nations seniors (GreyCells), are involved with Hotel Associations to compile a Centre of Expertise for the Hospitality Industry and have reached out to establish Chapters in other countries. Our vision is for an International integrated network.

The background is provided to advise about our existence. We have made the first steps and are now looking for more clients and more people with leadership, farming, entrepreneurial, support and subject matter expertise to join us and/or to establish a Chapter in their regions.

To concur with your Eleanor – opportunities do exist and we have established a framework for it by gradually increasing credibility. To Mark we agree that it is not easy and expectations have to be met but energy levels do rise when included in a supportive group and with initial small wins.

We welcome any contact and will soon need a new leader and farming expertise for the ‘maxi’ phase of the CfC Project next year.

Abelusi Activity Update – 15 Feb 2021

Our website has been upgraded and ‘fitter’ for purpose combined with email facilities. Abelusi KZN NPC, our South African Chapter, is now a registered company as of 12 Feb 2021. Both Abelusi Global and KZN are approved by their respective banks for financial accounts. Our first Project Request Form has been completed together with a draft Fund Raising Form. It involves assisting with the refurbishment of a building which was struck by lightning with the eventual hosting of a museum display involving 25 Zulu Kings. Another project is being drafted involving 50 communities feeding themselves. 16 Draft Operational documents designed covering Admin, Fund-Raising, Marketing, Membership, Projects – not to mention all the Legal documents, Systems and Process Flow Overview and even a document on How to Start a New Chapter. Abelusi (CH) is well advanced in the preparations to create a Centre of Expertise for the Hospitality Industry. Outreach for new members in both Chapters and at Global about to commence and outreaches for new Chapters in two new countries initiated.

18 November 2020 Formal launch of Abelusi Global

Abelusi was conceived during the later months of 2019 during concept discussions between John Allen and Henry Vergnaud. Henry wanted to know if there was anything to keep us occupied in our ‘golden years’. John responded that, whilst Director of a Chamber of Commerce and Industry he had set up and successfully engaged a ‘Senior Executive Club’. That initiated the vision of forming a global networked organisation for retired ‘elders’, executives and leaders from all walks of life. Following guidance from CAGI on establishing a Global NGO based in Geneva and John’s colleagues volunteering to set up the primary signature Chapter in KZN, South Africa, Abelusi Global took form and was formally launched with 7 signatories (Founding Members) on 18 Nov 2020.

October-November 2020 launching of Abelusi KZN in South Africa

February 2020, following discussions with Dumile Cele, saw the commitment of initial Core Development Team members to forming the initial signature Chapter of Abelusi based out of the Province of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. Tony Hesp agreed to chair the process; Andrew Layman to formalize the structure with founding members included Terry Strachan, Jeff Jafta, Di Milford, Peter Allen and Sue Waterworth A long COVID related lockdown intervened between March 2020 until the initial meeting on 25 Aug 2020. This was followed by interactions culminating in a meeting that ratified both the Global Statutes and the local Memorandum of Incorporation of a Not for Profit Company on 27 October. Registration of the Company is to be finalised.