It was a joyous occasion for 70-year-old Lulama Siyo when she and seven others got food parcels from Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality (EMLM) on Monday, September 12.
Siyo’s house in Nomzamo, Mlungisi burnt to the ground recently, killing two people.
She allowed two people to build a shack in her yard and did not charge them rent. “We did not have electricity on the day, they must have made a fire to keep warm and fell asleep. The fire started at the shack and quickly spread to the house, destroying everything both in the house and the shack. The two people in the shack died inside,” she said.
Siyo had to move in with neighbours, a situation she describes as difficult for a person of her age not to have her own place.
The eight beneficiaries were selected by ward councillors from a list of “destitute” people in their respective wards.
For a moment Siyo had forgotten her troubles and found pleasure in having food on the table.
“I am very grateful to the municipality for this wonderful gesture. I feel happy and for a while, my mind will start functioning. This will make a difference and at least a bit of my dignity has been restored, thanks to the municipality,” she said.
Another beneficiary, Bongani Klaas (39), whose family is grieving the passing of his aunt with no money to bury her, said the groceries will go a long way.
He said his family of eight depends on his uncle’s old age grant.
“The groceries will make a huge difference. Remember there will be people coming to console us and we are expected to make food for them. We are all unemployed and we are a poor family. Every time someone does something like this, it touches our hearts. I always come to town and stand next to the mall waiting for someone who might have piece jobs to pick me up, but sometimes nothing happens,” he said.
EMLM human settlements political head, Ongama Adonis, said their responsibility was to supply shelter too, but due to financial limitations they couldn’t do that at the moment. He said there are housing projects in the pipeline for destitute people.
“The department of human settlements in the district has approved 119 housing units for destitute people. They are now in the process of verifying information at hand. But while we wait for that, people must eat. We want to use government’s limited resources for people in need. As a result we decided to help by buying these food parcels,” he said.
Adonis conceded that it was not his department’s function to provide food parcels, quickly appealing for help from the business sector to help as a form of fostering partnerships.
“Communities and the private sector are also part of the three legged government model. We want to strengthen partnerships with the private sector and we appeal for the private sector to help the poor where they can,” he said.
