Zimbabweans in SA get food aid
ABOUT 38 000 undocumented foreigners, among them Zimbabweans, living in South Africa have received food aid from a company based in that country.
The initiative was extended to foreigners who have been left desperate as a result of Covid-19.
The foreigners have since March failed to get assistance through government channels as authorities in South Africa prioritise their nationals during a period marked by low economic activity due to coronavirus preventative measures. South African based pharmaceutical and logistics company, T2N, came to the rescue of about 38 000 foreigners in Gauteng, mainly Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The migrants survive on informal trade and live in informal settlements.
Over 6 000 Zimbabweans in South Africa have registered for food assistance with the Zimbabwe Embassy in Pretoria.
In a telephone interview yesterday, T2N site executive Mr Thandani Nkomo Zidwe said they had partnered with the Gauteng Food
Security Committee to reach out to the 9 500 families made up of 38 000 people.
“In terms of the communities we have worked with, you will find that even without the impact of Covid-19, the undocumented immigrants, especially those without local identity documents, will be vulnerable and are not able to be assisted by local social welfare programmes,” said Mr Nkomo Zidwe.
“Sadly, the disease (Covid-19) knows no boundaries or whether one has an identity document or not.
“We went in the community and we found the undocumented people whom we assisted with food hampers since the beginning of the lockdown in March.”
Mr Nkomo Zidwe said their company had handed out 233 tonnes of food and essentials to ease the sting of the lockdown on child-headed homes, orphaned children, gender-based violence victims and migrants. Each food-aid parcel includes starch-rich foods (maize meal and rice), protein-source foods (baked beans, packed fish, sugar beans and peanut butter), packets of soup, cooking oil, tea bags, jam, sugar, coffee creamer, salt and laundry soap.