Council approves R10m and commits to further R15m in COVID-19 relief

2 February 2021

The City of Cape Town will continue to action its commitment as a caring city by providing R10 million relief as part of Phase 1 as approved by council last week, which will see communities receive much-needed assistance.  The City will also be rolling out a second phase of the humanitarian food relief initiative to vulnerable communities adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional R15 million as part of Phase 2 of the relief will be provided following Council’s approval in March. A total of R25 million is earmarked to be spent on providing relief to residents.

‘As a result of the severe impact of the national coronavirus lockdown, many residents have struggled to put food on the table. It is clear government support must be extended through food aid, and local soup kitchens. These donations are intended to assist organisations feeding residents in need and, as a caring city, we are doing all we can. The need for assistance remains, even as some people have returned to work.

‘Lives and livelihoods have been severely affected by COVID-19. The ability to earn an income means residents can contribute to the economy, create jobs for others and build dignity through being able to provide for their families. This is something many residents have not been able to do because of the impact of the national COVID-19 lockdown. The hardship experienced by many through the loss of income is something we are acutely aware of. I regularly have residents contacting me in desperation for assistance. We have a duty to assist them as government,’ said the City’s Executive Mayor Alderman Dan Plato.

Since April last year, shortly after the pandemic started, more than 200 soup kitchens have been supported through the Office of the Executive Mayor, who delivered kitchen equipment and ingredients. Thousands of food parcels were also distributed to communities in need. This was a vital lifeline to residents experiencing the financial impact of the lockdown.

As part of this initiative, the City of Cape  Town’s Urban Management Directorate is calling for applications from registered and experienced NPOs and PBOs within the municipal boundaries of the City of Cape Town to prepare and distribute cooked meals to vulnerable communities, as well as non-perishable food items. The successful organisations which meet the relevant requirements, must also supervise community-based organisations in their preparation and distribution of cooked meals.

Applications for Phase 2 will be advertised shortly in local newspapers to invite organisations that:

- are registered as a non-governmental organisation (NGO), public benefit organisation (PBO) or a non-profit organisation (NPO)

- have at least three months’ experience operating soup/food kitchens and providing nutritional well-balanced meals to vulnerable communities/beneficiaries

- can provide a track record of their successful operations and the details of communities or beneficiary groups they have previously served

‘This grant-in-aid allocation, together with the various local area economic initiatives which were undertaken during 2020, will expand on our response as a municipality to heed the call of our communities facing dire circumstances. The City remains committed to providing food support programmes to support many vulnerable households adversely affected by COVID-19,’ said Alderman Grant Twigg, Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Management.

Issued by Greg Wagner, Spokesperson to the Executive Mayor, 2 February 2021