March 26 marks a year since South Africa entered its lockdown in response to the pandemic, a few weeks after Covid-19 had reached our shores.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a nationwide lockdown for 21 days from midnight on March 26 in a bid to control the spread of the virus.
The first lockdown was originally set to last for three weeks, with the state of disaster set to lapse in June. However, it turned into something that became part of our lives under different levels.
Although these measures were meant to save lives, they also negatively affected the economy, resulting in horrifying situation among society, particularly the poorest of the poor in our communities.
Poor families plunged into poverty
A lot has changed in the past 12 months, but one of the most highlighted problems faced by families was the issue of food insecurity and malnutrition exacerbated by the lockdown.
Many were left without food and others worried about how they would feed their families should grocery stores run out of food – prompting some to resort to food stockpiling
Within a couple of weeks, many people who were thrown into abject poverty after completely or partially losing their livelihoods, started to complain that they were stuck in their homes without food. In response, our local government, NGOs and businesses stepped in to rescue those trapped between hunger and the virus.
How it all began
Good Samaritans partnered with local government and donated food to the hungry – the City of Ekurhuleni also established its food bank in Springs – and started distributing to many hungry families.
These initiatives helped a lot to alleviate the suffering among starving families, but it also struggled to meet the ever-growing demands – thus resulting in all sorts of complaints, with people accusing the operators of overlooking certain communities.
Nevertheless, the City’s food bank continued to feed the hungry, until the facility was subsequently closed down on July 3, as the country’s lockdown rules were progressively eased. The closure of the facility was, however, met with opposition.
Many believed it should have been continued throughout the pandemic because more and more people were obviously starting to bear the brunt of the pandemic – with increased rate of unemployment resulting from retrenchments and closer of businesses in the country.
Rising demand for food
The rising demands for food has also been attested to by local NGOs, saying they are experiencing continuous increase in the number of laid off breadwinners struggling to feed their families.
Various Covid-19 relief programmes have substantially diminished, leaving many poor families hungry.
The Reiger Park Crisis Centre manager, Elane Appies, said the centre has been experiencing a surging demand for food by hungry children, whose families are in poverty mostly due to the effects of the pandemic.
“A large number of households are experiencing tremendous hardship as a direct result of the lockdown, and as a result more and more children are coming to our centre for food.
“We have also noted a decrease in the number of support from donors, which is completely understandable considering the virus is affecting everyone, including businesses.
“Collected data and the demand for basic food are clear indications that more people now live in poverty. But regardless of the uncertainty, our centre continues with its programmes aimed at alleviating the sufferings caused by Covid-19,” said Appies.
City of Ekurhuleni’s response
According to metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, apart from the establishment of the food bank at the Springs Food Market, the metro introduced many other projects to address issues caused by the pandemic.
These include:
• Working in conjunction with provincial government to accommodate the homeless in temporary shelters.
• Intensified policing to ensure lockdown regulations are adhered to.
• Ensured all key departments, such as EMS, EMPD, clinics, water and sanitation, energy and waste services remain operational.
• Provided all the necessary PPE to staff to ensure their safety.
• Some food parcels distributed masks to needy communities.
• Ran and continue to run public awareness campaigns and education for Covid-19 through various platforms mainly electronic and social media for the public.
• Provision of screening and testing at its clinics.
• Monitoring and intervention of all areas in the region.
• Serving in the Gauteng Provincial Joint Operations Committee (JOC).
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