Cape Town - Soup kitchens and feeding schemes around the city, in an attempt to get the attention of President Cyril Ramaphosa on the state of hunger in the country, made a series of videos.
Dubbed the Dear Mr President Video Project, the series of videos will tell the collective stories of desperate communities across the country.
The videos, accompanied by a song performed by Craig Lucas called What About the People, will be personally delivered by comedian Marc Lottering and Joanie Fredericks of the Mitchells Plain Community Action Network next week.
Lottering said previous pleas to the government had fallen on deaf ears and this was an urgent attempt to get its attention by representing communities and their leaders from across the country who were battling to feed their themselves and their families.
“People are going to starve to death if the government does not fulfil its promises. I’m not on the ground every day, but from what I have witnessed on a few occasions, men, women and children are still standing in that queue, long after the pots are empty.
"It's a matter of life or death. Politicians have unashamedly stolen from the poor.
"This is a horror story, and I have witnessed it,” Lottering said.
Fredericks said the number of people who used food kitchens as their primary source of food had increased tenfold as thousands of people lost their jobs, businesses, and all forms of income because of the lockdown.
“Those who traditionally took care of their families are not able to any longer. As a result, whole families are now dependent on support from food kitchens. The reality is that sponsors are no longer able to help and we are battling to feed our communities. The crisis is deepening, and without real intervention it could become a catastrophe,” she said.
Lottering said they had received about 50 videos and were hoping more would continue to come in.
“The idea is to make the president aware that our government has failed the poor all around the country,” he said.
Fredericks called on sponsors, donors and other provinces to join the call. She said soup kitchens had potential solutions to the deepening crisis, and their voices must be heard.
Cape Argus