Since the start of the national lockdown more than four months ago, the City of Cape Town has stepped in and assisted communities across the metro with food relief. Today, Mayor Dan Plato handed over equipment and dry ingredients to two organisations serving almost 6 000 people in the Steenberg area and surrounds.
‘We want to assist residents who are not able to put food on the table, as well as support existing feeding schemes to expand their reach. The Relief Fund through my office has sponsored these donations, which are so important to communities in need as people turn to soup kitchens for assistance. We will continue this support until more economic sectors are able to open. A great need for food relief remains due to the impact COVID-19 has had on communities,’ said Executive Mayor Dan Plato.
At the end of June, the Mayor’s office began the second phase of handovers to capacitate neighbourhood soup kitchens and has now reached 200 organisations and community feeding schemes. This is in addition to the distribution of thousands of food parcels. The City also recently availed an additional R25 million for food relief, over and above the initial funding allocation of R12 million.
Avril McKlastey, Director of NPO People For Life in Lavender Hill, has a number of projects feeding 800 people each day, including those who are HIV-positive. The NPO also serves porridge to children in the mornings. McKlastey said the donation will make it much easier to feed the community.
‘This is amazing. We have had to stand up at 3am with the porridge and this donation of pots and a stove will make it so much quicker and easier to do,’ said McKlastey.
Moriedah Dien heads up Dews of Quietness, an NPO focusing on support for survivors of gender-based violence and serves as a link with professional services. They expanded their feeding scheme due to the lockdown and now feed 500 people a day, five times a week.
‘I can’t put it into words. Previously we had to cook in normal sized pots and toss it into a bucket and start a new batch. So this is going to be a huge help because we can cook it all at once. There’s a huge need for food; we didn’t expect this from the Mayor, but we are so grateful,’ said Dien.
Each soup kitchen receives a three-plate burner stove, gas canister, two large pots and dry ingredients to enable organisations to feed more people on a daily basis.
Mayor Plato has reiterated the need to continue adhering to the regulations of wearing a face mask, washing one’s hands regularly and practicing social distancing as a way to ultimately beat COVID-19, and help us rebuild Cape Town’s economy.
We can make it through this as #OneCityTogether .