GEORGE NEWS - Vulnerable households will receive ongoing attention this coming week.
George Municipal Manager Trevor Botha said the municipality is in the process of buying and packing even more food, and parcels will be distributed within the week.
For many residents this is welcoming news, as the effect of national lockdown brought already impoverished families to their knees. With the restriction on movement from Friday 29 March, the informal economy and trading industry collapsed like a house of cards, leaving many entrepreneurs and general workers hapless and hungry.
Welfare organisations such as Life Community Services and Child and Family Welfare, that distribute food daily in disadvantaged neighbourhoods throughout town and Wilderness Heights, noted an increased desperation in communities between the first and second weeks of lockdown.
The municipality started distributing 150 food parcels made up from donated stock on Good Friday. Another 100 parcels were distributed on Monday 13 April with provisions bought with municipal funds.
"We will continue to deliver food parcels as interim relief, while the Western Cape Department of Social Development gets its processes in place to provide support," said Botha.
Not enough
Without wanting to make little of the municipality's attempts to help the needy, a community worker in Borcherds, who wishes to stay anonymous, said it's a pity only five households per ward could receive relief assistance over Easter Weekend.
He compared the efforts and the size of George Municipality to Bitou, saying wards in Plettenberg Bay and Knysna received 500 food parcels to help the desperate communities.
He was also worried about whether tabs are being kept on those who received, saying one family was lucky enough to receive a food hamper from a councillor, and another from the municipality.
Botha said he can't comment on behalf of Bitou and doesn't know their purchasing conditions. "We are also a larger municipality with more people and 27 wards, which further complicates distribution," he said.
"There is not a constant number of parcels available every day and this depends on donations, as well as stock available at stores. One should also take into account the fact that the large chain stores also supply other neighbouring municipalities and towns."
Officials of the municipality's Protection Services Department helped distribute the first round of food parcels to most needy households in George last Friday.
Most needy
Botha said the most needy households are being identified, with the assistance of ward councillors in vulnerable communities and the registered indigent households list as reference. The parcels contain food ingredients for a household of five people for seven days and are being funded by George Municipality disaster management resources.
"Donations from the donation centre are distributed by officials of Protection Services, not council members," said Botha.
"All donations delivered to the centre are strictly registered and donors must provide contact details. The contents of the parcels are recorded, and the households that receive the parcels must sign for it and show their identity documents so that their ID number can also be registered."
The fresh products received at the donation centre are moved to the soup kitchens and the projects for the homeless.
Botha said the municipality is doing its best to help people with limited resources. "We are the third largest municipality in terms of population in the Western Cape (besides Cape Town and Drakenstein / Paarl) with over 200 000 people," he said.
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