R45m for food parcels a drop in Eastern Cape ocean of hunger

DispatchLIVE

6 years ago

About 15 traders were the first to receive food parcels in Ikamvelihle. Image: Joseph Chirume/GroundUp

More than 260,000 Eastern Cape households are so destitute that they do not know where their next meal will come from.

More than 1.2 million of about six million households, or 72.9%, are living below the minimum level.

The province this week conceded that its budget allocation will not be enough to provide the desperately needed food parcels to poor families during the national lockdown.

The distribution of food parcels in the Eastern Cape has been characterised by allegations of favouritism and corruption before.

Responding to parliamentary questions from DA MPL Edmund van Vuuren, social development MEC Siphokazi Mani-Lusithi said the demand for food parcels far outweighed their ability to supply them.

Van Vuuren had written a letter to the MEC requesting her to intervene, saying the number of food parcels given to councillors to distribute within their communities was not enough.

He also raised concerns with the process for allocating the food parcels, saying the R45.5m allocated to Sassa for relief in the 2020/2021 financial year was not enough.

“This R45m has been divided equally among all districts in the province with each district receiving R5.9m for food parcels to be distributed.

“Nelson Mandela Bay, with its 60 wards, based on the price of a food parcel of between R1,300 and R1,500, will only be able to approve about 72 food parcels in each ward.

“This is indeed concerning in that our councillors are set up for failure or accusations of bias in that not all the vulnerable will be provided with a food parcel,” he wrote.

In her response, through a letter signed by her head of department, Ntombi Baart and dated April 12, the MEC confirmed the R45.5m allocation was enough to procure only 33,390 food parcels.

This translates to a mere 12.6% of the 264,312 households with no income, with food parcels that will last less than a month.

The Sassa funding has been distributed to the various districts as follows:

Amathole: R11.4m to purchase 8,347 food parcels, or 49 per ward;
OR Tambo: R10.5m to purchase 7,680 food parcels, or 53 per ward;
Alfred Nzo: R5.5m to purchase 4,007 food parcels, meaning each of their wards will receive only 40 parcels;
Nelson Mandela Metro: R5.9m to purchase 4,341 food parcels, or 72 per ward;
Chris Hani: R5.5m to purchase 4,007 food parcels, or 36 per ward;
Joe Gqabi: R3.6m to purchase 2,671 food parcels, or 59 per ward; and
Sarah Baartman: R3.2m to purchase 2,337 food parcels, or 32 per ward.

The department said while it has no specific coronavirus funding, it does have access to an allocation for social relief services meant to assist people who are experiencing undue hardship and who as a result find it difficult to meet their family basic needs and obligations.

The total budget allocation for this is R5.2m, with Van Vuuren saying it could buy an additional 3,852 food parcels, “using the average Sassa rate of R1,359.18 per parcel”.

“This means, combined, there is enough money to procure 37,242 food parcels. The department says there are more than 1.2m households in the Eastern Cape living below minimum living levels.

“These families’ circumstances have only been aggravated by the current lockdown, as it has removed the possibility of part-time and contract work, which is often the sole source of income for these families,” said Van Vuuren.

Mani-Lusithi said they would submit a proposal to the provincial treasury for more funding “as the current budget allocation for social relief services is by far very insufficient to cover the number of households in the Eastern Cape who live below the minimum living level”.

The MEC said when there were emergencies, destitute families were eligible to benefit from the equitable share budget allocation.

Meanwhile, the DA announced on Wednesday it would donate R1.5m to the Solidarity Fund to help keep small businesses afloat.

The funds have been drawn from the salaries of its public representatives, the party said.

National spokesperson Solly Malatsi said they would also donate hand sanitisers worth R200,000 to essential workers.

By Asanda Nini – DispatchLive