POLITICS

MEC Lesufi should consider cash payments over food parcels – Refiloe Nt’sekhe

DA recommends that people should be given a choice as to what they want

DA calls on MEC Lesufi to consider cash payments and to distribute food parcels only as a last resort

5 May 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling on the Acting Gauteng MEC for Social Development, Panyaza Lesufi to consider other options other than food parcels to ensure that our people have food on time during this national lockdown.

The department is encountering problems distributing food parcels such as unfair distribution, corruption, people intercepting the food parcels and using them for their own purposes. There are also long queues and stampede where food is being distributed leading to people breaking social distancing regulations.

The food parcels are expensive because of procurement, transportation and distribution costs. Food parcels cost the Gauteng Department of Social Development between R1000 and R1200 per parcel. Yet some of the money is lost to the distribution costs and the recipients do not get the full value of money in the food provided.

The department is failing to meet its 48-hour turnaround time to deliver food parcels because there are people who are desperately in need of food and who claim that they have applied for food parcels on 30 March and to date the department is yet to respond.

The DA recommends that people should be given a choice as to what they want to eat when applying for food relief. Some food parcels come with sanitary towels, then get to a family where no one uses the sanitary towels.

The application form should indicate different options, for those who choose cash payment the money should be deposited directly into their bank accounts or an e-wallet sent directly to their registered cellphone number. Food vouchers should also be given to those who do not have bank accounts and are unable to receive money via e-wallet. The food parcels should only be given as a last resort to those who do not have access to shops and cannot be covered by cash transfers, e-wallet or food vouchers.

By so doing, the department will reduce the time it takes from when people apply for food and when they receive their food parcel. Cash payments directly to the deserving beneficiaries empowers people to buy what they need and stops politicians from using food parcels for political gains. There would also be a nominal cost to giving people money in the form of bank charges which is far better than the cost of distributing food parcels.

The DA will write to the MEC to submit our proposal with regards to different ways of distributing food to our people instead of relying on food parcels.

Issued byRefiloeNt’sekhe,DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development, 5 May 2020