Gauteng's vulnerable starve as DSD spends only 17% of the food banks' budget
6 February 2024
Gauteng's most vulnerable residents, who are solely dependent on the Department of Social Development (DSD) for food, face starvation as the provincial food bank's budget remains largely underspent.
It is unacceptable that DSD would underspend when there is an overwhelming demand for food among Gauteng's vulnerable population.
According to the department’s third quarter for the 2023/24 financial year, only 17% of the R18 million budget has been spent, which equates to over R3 million. This means that Gauteng citizens in severe need of food have been deprived of 306,000 food packs.
Furthermore, last year, in December, the Democratic Alliance (DA) was alerted that five Gauteng food banks were out of stock. We conducted oversight inspections at the food banks in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni to assess the situation and found that the food banks had indeed depleted.