Durban — ActionSA has launched a one home, one garden campaign in the Harry Gwala region of KwaZulu-Natal in a bid to alleviate poverty and mitigate rising food costs.
The party believes the only way for the country to move forward is by first dealing with wide-scale poverty.
It distributed 4 000 seeds in Harry Gwala district’s ward 14, adding that the target was to give 10 000 seeds to families around KwaZulu-Natal on a monthly basis.
The party’s KZN secretary, Bongani Caluza, said they wanted communities to go back to their roots by planting and eating fresh food from the ground, given the cost of food today.
“As ActionSA in KZN, we have come to the realisation that it is impossible for our people to fight corruption while they are hungry. We have therefore taken it upon ourselves to ensure that we tackle food security and restore dignity to our people by equipping them with seedlings to grow their own food so they don’t depend on food parcels.”
Caluza said they were taking people back to basics by making gardening fashionable. “We are not just aiming for gardens that will feed families, we also want to instil a culture where families and communities start planting big gardens that have the capacity to supply big supermarkets and stores.”
The project was piloted in ward 14 but the party’s vision was for KZN and the entire country to also be reached for the implementation of this initiative. The project will soon be launched in other regions as well.
Among the seeds handed to families were green peppers, cabbages, spinach and carrots. Caluza said they have district captains in place to monitor the progress of planting in families.
ActionSA was working in harmony with community leaders as the local induna had given them land to occupy, adding that all the municipalities were informed about the project earlier to ensure there was water.
“No crops planted will go to ruin just because there is not enough water, we have organised for water tankers to be already in place just to make sure there are no hiccups that will make the project not run smoothly.”
Caluza called on the youth to be at the forefront of the initiative and to use their power to bring about positive change.
Daily News