Cape Town - A community soup kitchen is at the centre of a political row in Durban, and has been closed, allegedly in retaliation after the DA snatched a ward from the ANC.
The kitchen, in Ward 110, St Moriah, near Phoenix, provided much-needed meals for the poor and sick. It is a council-funded initiative but ANC supporters and eThekwini Municipality officials allegedly shut it down in a case of sour grapes.
Residents and employees said the ANC wanted it moved to an area where it would service “ANC people” and had intimidated and threatened people working there so it could no longer operate. The ANC denied the allegations.
The eThekwini Municipality’s spokeswoman Tozi Mthethwa said the kitchen had been shut down after a break-in early this week.
An employee of the kitchen, who cannot be named for fear of intimidation, told The Mercury that the kitchen, which had been open between 7am and 4pm five days a week for three years, was shut down on August 12 by a group of about 15 women wearing ANC T-shirts, who claimed to be party members. She said they stormed in and ordered the staff out before using their own padlocks to lock it.
The employee said the women accused the staff of “selling the ward” by supporting an independent candidate, which weakened the ANC and benefited the DA.
“They said the ANC brought the kitchen to the area, and since we voted for an independent candidate we should go to the independent to ask for employment,” she said.
The kitchen was opened when the ward was under ANC councillor Selby Dladla. Dladla became an independent candidate for the local government elections after the ANC chose another candidate, Thoko Ndlovu, to contest the ward.
They both lost to the DA’s Peter Graham.
The employee said the kitchen had been closed since August 12, and on Tuesday a municipal official called to tell them about a break-in.
“There was no break-in and nothing was stolen. Only the women’s padlocks were missing,” she said.
An official, in police company, loaded groceries and cooking items into a bakkie.
“This was a punishment for supporting the independent candidate. The official said since the ANC was no longer in charge of the ward, the kitchen should be removed to where it is much needed,” she said.
Dladla said the kitchen had been feeding more than 3 000 community members of St Moriah, Glen Hills, Sunningdale, Mount Royal and Corovoca and Cornubia.
“We gave people food so that they can be safe when taking medication. Community health caregivers collect food from this kitchen to feed bedridden elders and sick people.”
Dladla said he would hold a community meeting on Friday to be briefed about the shutdown.
A beneficiary, who also declined to be named, said the kitchen had been feeding her family for three years.
“My children have been collecting food every day when they returned from school,” she said.
After hearing that trucks would collect two containers, which are used as the kitchen cooking area and storeroom, on Wednesday, the community called Graham. Graham blocked the facility’s gate with his car to prevent the containers from being removed.
“No one is going to remove these containers, and I want the kitchen reopened immediately,” he said. He said the community were victims of ANC internal politics.
ANC spokesman Mdumiseni Ntuli said the party was opposed to “any conduct seeking to deny people what is due to them and provided for with our government policies”.
The Mercury