Hawkers get relief from CHDM food bank
Hawkers, who have been out of business since the lockdown began, received relief in the form of grocery vouchers from the Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) food bank on Wednesday.
The food bank also facilitated the handing-over of
100 grocery vouchers to each of the six local authorities under its jurisdiction, to help residents living below the poverty line who have struggled severely during the lockdown period.
Municipalities also received
31 buckets with cleaning detergents and disinfectants and a box of 800 surgical masks.
CHDM mayor Wongama Gela said the food bank was backed by businesses in the district, indicating the municipality led from the front and was the first institution to contribute to it.
We wanted to lead by “example and became the first to donate the 600 food parcels which we handed over today. Local businesses, including “
Boxer and Vodacom, also contributed by providing grocery vouchers for distribution to the needy.”
The mayor said the food bank followed the standardisation of food parcels as dictated by Sassa, which meant food parcels from Vodacom valued at R300 each had to be merged to match the government standard.
This meant their initial “number of vouchers donated was cut in half behalf because we combined two vouchers to make one valued at R600.”
The Chris Hani Development Agency (CHDA) also chipped in and contributed 180 food parcels.
Gela said the municipality decided to provide vouchers instead of actual food parcels to mitigate transportation issues.
One of the beneficiaries of the vouchers, a hawker operating from the Hewu taxi rank, Eunice Fani, asked that the municipality engage them on matters that concerned them, which she did not wish to dwell on at the briefing.
This is not an event to raise “our issues, but to show gratitude for the vouchers. All we ask is that we be included in matters that include us, the people who make a living selling items in the streets. We would like to ask that the vouchers be made available for all hawkers, because we all need them and not only certain people. I hope the councillors who identify people needing assistance consult us and do not make decisions on our behalf.”
Enoch Mgijima mayor Luleka Gubhula thanked the district municipality for its support to local authorities and for working together to help people in the community. The hawkers who receive “the food vouchers were identified by ward councillors as they are the ones in direct contact with the residents. The beneficiaries are among those who do not sell essential items at their stalls, and thus have been out of business.”