Cape Town - The Republic of Germany and the German Development Bank announced they would give the City €5 million (R96 million) for relief aid, for identified communities within the metro.
The German Development Bank, KfW has sent a written request to mayor Dan Plato, outlining the offer to support communities within the City.
The City said the funds would not be disbursed to the City, and will not be incorporated into the City’s budget, in the conditions laid out as part of the agreement signed by the City and the German ambassador.
KfW’s Silke Stadtmann and Peter Weinert said in a letter to Plato: “Through these emergency measures, about 25000 families and pregnant women in need could be supported with a digital food voucher worth about R600 per month, for about three months.”
The focus of the aid would be families and single parents with children under the age of seven “as well as foreign families who do not qualify to receive government support grants”.
The areas that would be receiving relief include Khayelitsha, Hanover Park, Manenberg, Gugulethu and Nyanga and, if funds are still available, Bonteheuwel.
KfW said some of the money would be used to support informal businesses, such as urban vegetable gardens and early childhood development centres.
In a report was tabled by the mayoral committee, the City said the relief was the latest development in a successful relationship with the German Development Bank, which had seen 15.5m contributed since 2007.
The money went into a programme called Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading, which aims to prevent crime through environmental design, as well as social programmes.
Further comment was sought from the City but they were unable to respond to questions by the time of publication.
* €1 is equivalent to R19.34 as of 19 September 2020
Cape Argus