Acting MEC for Social Development in Gauteng Panyaza Lesufi has urged the private sector and those wanting to make food donations to contact the provincial department.
Lesufi says President Cyril Ramaphosa is impressed at the provincial government’s attempts to poverty in the province.
“It’s an honour to receive President Ramaphosa and also to take him through how we are fighting poverty in our province and how we are ensuring that the vulnerable get quality food and food that we can account for, food that is audited but also the numbers that we are reaching since the lockdown. I mean he is excited by the way we are packaging and the way we are coordinating the donations and the way we are working with NGO’s and social partners. We encouraging everyone that is working in this sector to coordinate it with us so that we can give all the relevant support that is needed.”
Food banks
President Ramaphosa observed the packaging of food parcels at the Johannesburg Central Food Bank in Booysens, along with with Lesufi on Friday. The parcels will be distributed to communities in need during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Ramaphosa says Food Banks are the dignified way to give food parcels to the poor.
#day29oflockdown President Cyril Ramaphosa with Premier of @GautengProvince, @David_Makhura, Gauteng Social Development Acting MEC Panyaza @Lesufi at Johannesburg Central Food Bank in Booysens, which is also used to assist communities in need with food parcels during #Covid19 pic.twitter.com/wdiLOV7DzV
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) April 24, 2020
In the video below, SABC’s Vusi Khumalo reports on the launch of a food bank in Richards Bay:
Food parcels corruption claims
The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal is calling on government to investigate allegations that some councillors are involved in the embezzlement of food parcels meant for vulnerable groups during the national lockdown.
KwaZulu-Natal ANC Spokesperson Ricardo Mthembu says the party has received complaints from community members that some ANC representatives are keeping the food parcels for themselves.
Mthembu says such behaviour is tarnishing the party’s image.
“It looks like now people are doing a very dangerous thing involving politics in this crisis where people are suffering because of the lockdown situation which is beyond government and beyond everybody.”
“So, as the ANC, we would like to caution people and we are concerned about people donating food parcels and of course, those food parcels don’t reach the people who are supposed to get them.”
“We don’t want to see government programmes of ensuring that people are assisted through food parcels being manipulated,” adds Mthembu.
In the video below, Eersterust community laments the lack of food parcels:
