DA Ward 16 Ekurhuleni still waiting for food parcels yet MEC Lesufi denies responsibility

3 June 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is disappointed that the Acting Gauteng Social Development MEC, Panyaza Lesufi has denied that his department is responsible for the delays in distributing food parcels in Ward 16 in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni.

MEC Lesufi was responding to the DA’s questions during the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s (GPL) virtual sitting.

According to the MEC, DA Ward 16 Councillor, Jaco Terblanche did not send an email requesting food parcels to the department but he sent the email to Ekurhuleni. The department did not receive any food parcel requests from the Councillor.

The MEC said they have no obligation to provide feedback to the people who submitted the lists for food parcels requests, and they have their own system that they are using to track food parcel distribution. While when people are hungry they go to their Councillor’s.

However, the DA is in possession of an email which the Councillor sent to the department with the list of the food parcel requests to [email protected] which is the provincial application process.

The application was sent on 20 April 2020 and the Councillor received a reference number from province but till today the residents in his ward who are desperate for food have not yet received any food parcels from the department. In fact other people in the ward received food from Gauteng Department of Social Development.

The DA calls for transparency with regards to the list of the food parcel requests sent to the department and for those that have benefited. All public representatives deserve feedback to track their requests and provide feedback to the residents.

The DA will continue to monitor the process of food parcel distribution to ensure that all requests are processed, and the beneficiaries receive food parcels.

Issued by Refiloe Nt’sekhe,DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development, 3 June 2020