Department updating its relief dashboard
THE provincial Department of Social Development is updating its humanitarian relief dashboard tracking food relief in the province, to avoid duplication and wastage.
Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez said the department, in collaboration with the Department of the Premier, had developed the dashboard to track food relief in the province during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fernandez was responding to a question from the chairperson of the social development standing committee, Gillion Bosman (DA), who sought more information about the system.
“What are the aims, the time frames for development … and best practices that inform the development of this system, and how will the system support the work of non-profit organisations which offer food relief to vulnerable residents?” asked Bosman.
Fernandez said: “The dashboard provides a spatial representation at local, municipal and ward level of the distribution of food relief. The aim is to promote optimal co-ordination of food relief between different government agencies, to ensure an effective spread of food relief to all areas in need and avoid duplication or wastage.
“The system is being updated to improve data quality and completeness, since the province does not have access to all NGO and private sector food relief data. This update should be complete by the end of April.”
Since the lockdown began, the department has provided food relief to those hardest hit by the pandemic and lockdown restrictions.
In the 2021/22 budget, the department set aside an additional R25 million for food relief. According to the budget, funding has been made available to NGOs, community-based food kitchens and NPOs to assist in providing meals to people in communities, and the homeless.