Tuesday, 3 February 2026, marked Gift of the Givers’ 11th consecutive day of providing decent meals with dignity to Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) students, staff, and some parents and alumni who accompanied their relatives. For this noble deed, MUT pays a special tribute to Gift of the Givers for its unwavering humanitarian support during the 2026 registration period. To MUT management, it soon became very clear that the students and parents would spend long hours at MUT and would need to be fed. A call was made to the Gift of the Givers, an old friend of MUT. The rest, as they say, is history. Without fail, over the past 11 days of registration, Gift of the Givers has served warm, nutritious meals to students who have participated in the registration process. What began as a simple WhatsApp request from Mbali Mkhize, Senior Director: Marketing and Communications at MUT, to the University’s long-standing benefactor Rayhaan Muhammad Sooliman, son of Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder of Gift of the Givers, quickly translated into action. There were no protocols and no bureaucracy, only confirmation of numbers and timelines. Such is the trusted and responsive relationship between MUT and Gift of the Givers.
While the initial request covered 500 students a day, the meals were scaled to serve nearly 1 000 students daily, consistently, over the 11-day period. The quality and dignity of the meals widely shared on social media, earned heartfelt appreciation from the MUT community. Commenting on the initiative, the MUT Chairperson of Council, Dr Mosidi Makgae, remarked: “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Asked about how she felt about the initiative being so successful, Mkhize said, “Indeed, as the MUT community, we are proud to have such trusted partners, partners who believe in your cause the moment they receive your request. This is about MUT making a difference.
“It was January, and parents had scraped together just enough to bring their children to MUT. Delays in internet connectivity meant many stayed longer on campus than anticipated. In that moment, the relationship MUT has with the Gift of the Givers brought immediate humanitarian relief.”