​A 59-year-old Tintswalo Makhubele is a Philanthropist, due to her work she has been named the mother of poverty alleviation by the community of Eikenhof and surrounding areas.
Makhubele has initiated an agricultural production project to fight poverty.

Makhubele is also a founder and current Secretary-General of the South African Congress of Non-Profit Organization (SACONO), an umbrella organization to 20 cooperatives, funded by the department said they use about 250 hectares of land to produce different types of vegetables such as tomatoes, spinach, beetroot, and herbs.

“Our cooperatives are a mechanism through which the disadvantaged communities can organise themselves to contribute meaningfully in the economy while fighting hunger and poverty. They also offer an alternative model for social enterprise which contributes to sustainable development beyond job creation”, she explains.

Makhubele said, “My passion for agriculture started while I was lecturing, and at some point, I decided to focus on agricultural products, and I trained women who are now feeding their families through this initiative”.

Adding that as SACONO they are grateful to the City of Joburg Municipality for availing the farm that they have been working on for almost ten years and the Gauteng Department of Agriculture for donating seeds and crops.

In 2015 she received an award in Dubai for Women’s Transformation Programs, recently she also addressed a Youth Conference in Zimbabwe on Conflict Resolution.