Feeding the needy in Sandton
BRYANSTON – The City of Joburg and the SDI Force joined forces to feed the hungry.
The current lockdown has affected us all, but a recent project aimed to help a group that is especially vulnerable.
The Supplier Development Initiatives Force (SDI) and the City of Joburg fed almost 1 000 displaced people in Region E in Bryanston on 9 April.
Regional director of Region E, Liziwe Ntshinga-Makoro said that it was a necessary project to roll out, especially now. “We all know that it is a lockdown period and the most affected people are those that would go out and fend for themselves for food. This is the group that is highly affected by that. With all the support that has been rolled out all over, we felt that they have been left out.”
She added that there is a high concentration of waste pickers along the Braamfontein Spruit in Bryanston. “The area itself is not ideal for the recyclers, we have received a number of complaints about them starting fires and accusations of crime involvement. We have tried a number of initiatives and during this lockdown period what we are saying is that they are human, they are here with us, in lockdown with us and, therefore, we need to support them,” she said.
With a full bag of groceries in hand, Maele Pule said that he was delighted to receive the food hamper. “I’m so happy because I am not going to work so I can cook. I’ve got no money but for today we got food parcels so I can say I will be able to live.”
SDI Force co-founder Brad Fisher realised that the need for such an initiative was huge. “This is a pilot project and initiative that I started with my partner Andile Ramaphosa. We realised that we have 50 000 micro traders that are reliant on their daily income to survive. Particularly less sophisticated traders such as the waste pickers. We estimated that there will be over 10 000 people in trouble this lockdown period,” he said.
Fisher said that the number one thing was to raise emergency relief for food packs. “We raised R2 million and bought the 10 000 packs but, as we got started, the City of Joburg approached us and collaborated with us to do it more formally and in a Covid-19 compliant manner,” said Fisher.
There were a number of organisations in attendance from The Momba Foundation and Unity Values platform. Using the Unity Values platform allowed for campaigning and donors to make their donation towards the project.
If you would like to get involved, visit www.unityvalues.com/sdi
Related Article:
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/259094/sandton-spca-pleads-donations-covid-19-lockdown/
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/266351/covid-19-local-businesses-need-support/
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