Mayor closes Covid-19 food bank in Springs
Masina said the food bank was used by the South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID) and the United Nations Women (UN Women) as a case study for indigent strategies beyond Covid-19.
The City of Ekurhuleni has closed its Covid-19 food bank at the Springs Fresh Produce Market on Friday.
Speaking at the closure, executive mayor Mzwandile Masina said 123 organisations/donors made donations to an estimated value of over R10-million.
“This enabled us to provide food parcels to 32 721 distressed households consisting of 163 605 residents, with an average household consisting of five people, with outliers of three to 15 members in a household.”
The food bank was opened on April 14, just weeks after the national lockdown was declared. The food bank was established as a distribution point where emergency relief donations in the City would be received and distributed to distressed households who had lost an income due to the lockdown.
Masina said: “Covid-19 was never just a global health emergency, it is a pandemic that has significant implications for the economy, for governance and for the socio-political realities of our country. Millions of people were forced out of jobs, in a country where the informal market is thriving and where small and medium enterprises employ a significant number of people.
“Here in the City of Ekurhuleni, the nerve centre of manufacturing and logistics in sub-Saharan Africa, the impact was especially devastating as many factories had to close, putting thousands of people and hundreds of businesses out of work.
“This reality caused great stress to me and members of the mayoral committee. We found ourselves confronted with an unprecedented challenge that demanded immediate resolution. But we recognised from the very beginning that it would be an impossibility to facilitate this food bank in the absence of partnerships with businesses and civil society within and outside the City.
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“The scale was simply too great. Given the loss of revenue that the municipality is confronted with, at a time when basic services are absolutely critical, and a time during which we intend to provide them sustainably, it was critical that we bring all hands on deck.
“It was for this reason that following the launch of the food bank, a circular was issued to business and stakeholders within the City, inviting donations. Companies, organisations, and individual donors who wished to donate were issued with a food parcel content guide on items required. Donations delivered to the food bank were recorded through a donor’s registry form. A standardised food parcel list was developed. It consisted of 12 items that had to be distributed to households in distress at an estimated value of R500,” said Masina.
A sizeable proportion of the food parcels donated were given to child-headed households, members of the creative industry, vulnerable women who are victims and survivors of gender-based violence, hostel dwellers, military veterans, faith-based leaders, members of the LGBTIQA+ community, old-age homes and orphanages, members of the sports fraternity as well as sex workers.
Masina said the food bank was used by the South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID) and the United Nations Women (UN Women) as a case study for indigent strategies beyond Covid-19.
Ms Jullie Beya, who works in the mayoral office, represented the City before the United Nations and SAWID, explaining the significance and scale of this great initiative. Over the past two months, various national and international news agencies, including the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), have visited the City to report on the food bank.
Masina said almost 1 000 parcels were distributed daily.
“I want to thank all these donors. It is often said that capital has no heart, but this initiative demonstrated that the private sector has the capacity to contribute meaningfully to the fashioning of a higher civilisation.
“As restrictions ease and the economy begins to slowly recover, we remain confident that our people too will recover. We will be beside you as you do. We will be beside SMMEs. We will be beside every business and individual in this City. It is a commitment we will never betray.”
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