Pretoria - The lockdown regulations imposed by government to curb the spread of the coronavirus have plunged many poor families into distress and hunger, sparking fears of starvation.
According to civil rights organisation #NotInMyName secretary-general Themba Masango, the organisation has been inundated with distress calls from families across South Africa begging for food handouts as more people struggle to put food on the table.
“This weekend we are visiting informal settlements in the North West, where our president Siyabulela Jentile hails from. He strongly felt that charity should begin at home and we took out food hampers to the families at Jouberton and Khuma informal settlements,” Masango said.
“Poverty in those areas is terrible, especially in the informal settlements that we visited. The lockdown condition has made the poverty to become more extreme. People there really do not know what to do.
“As you might know, these conditions also influence gender-based violence. In these set-ups, people are very stressed and often the anger is taken out on women and children.”
Masango said food parcels, which included maize meal, cooking oil, beans, soup and porridge, were delivered to more than 200 families.
“We want to express gratitude to the Potchefstroom public order policing unit of the SAPS led by Captain Tumi Ramahlaha for supporting us and accompanying us to the respective communities.
“The unequal distribution of resources in South Africa calls on us to unite to achieve our sustainable development goals as they relate to social justice,” Masango said.
Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March last year, and the hard lockdown imposed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to arrest the spread of infections, #NotInMyName has initiated a food parcel distribution campaign supported by various businesses to bring relief to many families that had lost incomes.
African News Agency (ANA)