Lockdown: DA demands provision of additional funding for food relief programmes
The lockdown has impacted the lives of many families across Limpopo and the DA says Provincial Government must have interventions in place to ensure that people of Limpopo are not left with inadequate food supply.
The DA in Limpopo has called on Provincial Government to allocate additional funding for food relief programmes to ensure the people of the province do not go hungry during the national lockdown.
The lockdown has impacted the lives of many families across Limpopo and the DA says Provincial Government must have interventions in place to ensure that people of Limpopo are not left with inadequate food supply.
DA Provincial Leader, Jacques Smalle in a statement says the province has an expanded unemployment rate of 44%, and that 50% of the population in the province lives under the poverty line.
In addition to this, over 1, 6 million learners are fed through the School Nutrition Programme in the province. These are all people who could potentially become vulnerable to food insecurity due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.
Smalle adds that in the Western Cape the DA-led provincial government made R53 million in additional funding available for emergency food relief programmes. “It is important that while we make concerted efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, that we do not leave people of Limpopo with inadequate food supply. We believe that Mathabatha must consult with the Provincial Treasury and relevant MECs, in order to ensure no families are negatively affected.”
The DA in Limpopo will continue to work with and support government’s effort to address the Covid-19 pandemic, Smalle concluded.
