South Africa has marshalled huge resources towards preventing its poor from starving because of COVID-19, but undocumented citizens and stranded migrants face hunger as they slip through the net, aid workers say.
Some 11,000 families waited for charity food parcels on Wednesday in a queue stretching for several kilometres outside South Africa’s capital Pretoria, with some lining up from 4.am. Aid workers estimated more than half of those waiting for the third distribution this month were migrants.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has been praised for trying to mitigate the impact of the two-month-old coronavirus shutdown on the country’s most vulnerable, setting aside R50 billion ($2.78 billion) for social grants for the poor, who on one measure make up half of Africa’s most industrialised country. But to claim a grant or food parcel, you need a national ID card — which migrants aren’t entitled to and many South Africans from poor areas have failed to obtain.
We saw about the money that they are going to send to the South Africans, but as foreign nationals, who is going to provide for us?” said Peter Ndhlovu, an out-of-work Zimbabwean migrant casual labourer, as he queued.
“These people are hungry,” said Yusuf Abramjee, one of the coordinators of the charity handout programme, gesturing to a queue stretching several kilometres. Some of them are South African, a large chunk of them are foreign nationals.” Coronavirus Hotline Number: 0800 029 999 from 8 am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. Help protect your loved ones by sharing this official South African government COVID-19 service with your family, friends and community.
Send HI to 0600 123 456 on WhatsApp. The NICD has another Clinician Hotline to improve #COVID19 communication and support for healthcare providers. The Clinician Hotline is 0800 11 1131, operating 24 hrs. The Public Hotline is 0800 029 999 also operating 24hrs.
In other news – SK Khoza is grateful for his mentor Shona Ferguson
Actor SK Khoza is grateful to have his mentor, co-producer and fellow actor Shona Ferguson to put him straight on certain things. Things have been looking up for SK who caused excitement on the socials when he confirmed that he’d be making his way back to The Queen to act the role of Shaka again. In what viewers described as an unexpected “plot twist” to the telenovela, SK seems to be loving the idea of being back on set with his fellow co-stars, moreover his mentor Shona. Taking to Instagram with a snap of himself and Shona, SK shared how grateful he was for the bond he had with his boss and for him always being there to give guidance and uplifting words. Read more
Source: eNCA
