A potato a day is all that stands between them and starvation

A group of foreign nationals in Sunnyside, Pretoria, have been trying to make a bag of potatoes last for as long as possible, since the vegetable had become their only food during the extended lockdown period.

All the group’s income had dried up since the country went into a complete lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, as they have been unable to go to their jobs as hairdressers, barbers, waiters and cashiers.

Sitting with a plate of cooked potatoes mashed with tomatoes, Enock Aruna used to make a living by cutting hair, mainly on the side of the road. He has been living in South Africa for ten years since leaving his home in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Enoch Aruna and his nephew Cadeau Mauridi, foreign nationals from the DRC, can be seen in their room, 3 June 2020, Sunnyside, Pretoria. The both are streetside barbers in the city. Picture: Jacques Nelles

“Potatoes are the only thing we eat. Today I added tomato. I can’t even afford to buy food or fish. Whenever I get R30 or R50, I buy a bag of potatoes,” said Aruna.

He and his wife, one-year-old son, and his nephew Cadeau Mauridi, who is also a barber, rent one of the rooms in a five-bedroom flat shared by several other foreign families.

Due to the lack of food, they have made a rule to only eat once a day.

“You decide, do you want to eat breakfast, lunch or supper. You choose one. Then you can only have one cup of tea a day. We have to make the food last,” he explains.

“No one expected this lockdown to happen but we don’t have a choice. The landlord is also pushing us to pay rent. I haven’t been paying for two months.”

Clothes can be seen for sale outside an apartment building in Sunnyside where mostly foreign nationals live, 25 May 2020, Pretoria. Some of the residents in the building have started selling their belongings to earn some kind of income. Throughout lockdown these foreign nationals have received no food parcels or any help from government and some of them haven’t eaten for several days. Picture: Jacques Nelles

Another tenant in the same building wasn’t as fortunate as Aruna. Yvonne Useni, 29, and her family had their belongings and clothes taken by their landlord as they also failed to pay two month’s rent.

Her 16-year-old brother, whom she and her husband share a room with, was left with only the clothes on his back.

“All he is wearing is what you see now. This jean, this t-shirt and flops. That’s it. We all basically live outside now and only come up when we are offered to share and eat the potatoes that my neighbours cook.”

Yvonne and her husband had left Malawi for South Africa two years ago, while her younger brother has been in the country for eight months.

She worked at a restaurant but was unfortunately not one of the staff members who were called back when level 3 of the national lockdown commenced this week.

“I don’t want to go back to Malawi. There are no opportunities and I am from a poor family. I will wait for the lockdown to end so that I am able to send money back home,” she said.

Their plight was a common refrain among foreign nationals in the country, which was why government should consider reopening the hair industry, said chairperson of the African Diaspora Forum, Vusi Sibanda.

Jeanne Amisi sits with her 3 daughters, Blandine 12 (L), Sa Lima Amisi 4 (C) and Sarah 16 (R) in their shared room in a flat in Sunnyside, 25 May 2020, Pretoria. Jeanne came to South Africa fleeing violence in the DRC but is now unable to feed her children as she cannot work or hasn’t recieved a food parcel since the beginning of the national lockdown. Picture: Jacques Nelles

“It’s true that foreign nationals have not been receiving any income now. That is why we are supporting the call for people who do hair to open for business. We hope with the High Court judgment it can happen sooner,” he said in reference to Tuesday’s ruling which found the current lockdown regulations unconstitutional.

Despite a belief to the contrary, foreign nationals do qualify to receive food parcels from government. All they have to do is register their details, said Gauteng Social Development spokesperson Thabiso Hlongwane.

“They qualify for food parcels. They must use their passport numbers as well as their ID numbers and surname and address where they stay, and send those details to support@gauteng.gov.za,” he said.

rorisangk@citizen.co.za

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