R100m in food relief provided to KZN and Gauteng, says Minister Zulu

THE DEPARTMENT of Social Development has allocated R100 million in food relief to KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng following the July civil unrest.

The unrest, which claimed the lives of 360 people, broke out following the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma for contempt of court. Looting and destruction was widespread in the two provinces in early July.

It cost the already strained SA economy an estimated R15 billion as a result of damage to property and infrastructure.

In a written parliamentary reply to IFP MP Liezel van der Merwe, Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Zulu said KwaZulu-Natal had received R60 million for 81,429 food parcels, while Gauteng was granted R40 million for 57,143 food parcels.

Zulu said the allocations were for vouchers issued to affected families in both provinces, and not specifically in response to the unrest.

Qualifying criteria included: people experiencing hunger as a result of the public violence and looting; families with bread winners who have been laid off from industries that have closed down; and, families battling with hunger where there is no income (living below the food poverty line of R585 a month).

“To ensure no double-dipping, the department put measures in place such as the verification of qualifying beneficiaries against the different lists, such as the Sassa social relief of distress vouchers and the identified beneficiaries by social development officials,” Zulu said.

– POLITICAL BUREAU