Naas community empowered to fight poverty, grow own food

KAMAQHEKEZA – As part of  International Day for Eradication of Poverty, government and the private sector joined hands to provide several local households with the tools to support their families.

Representatives of government and governmental institutions, as well as RCL Foods met at Nkomazi Plaza and then walked the 1,5 kilometres to Tholulwazi Community Nutrition and Development Centre (CNDC).

The group was led by Busisiwe Shiba, MEC for social development, and carried placards with hashtags relating to healthy living and eradicating poverty to raise awareness among the local community.

Shiba later handed over JoJo tanks, industrial sewing machines, salon equipment, food parcels, school uniforms, bursaries, as well as agricultural equipment and potting soil to community members and Tholulwazi beneficiaries.

Tholulwazi is a community-based centre that provides food for families with special needs. It is part of a National DSD project, with several centres in each province responsible for feeding hundreds of people per day. The centre also aims to encourage beneficiaries to establish their own backyard vegetable gardens to ensure households have nutritious food to eat.

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This mission linked with the day’s purpose: to support households and communities in food production and to encourage consumption of nutritious, diverse food.

The DSD also aimed to encourage stakeholders to work with the most disadvantaged communities to build a society of universal respect for human rights and dignity.

Peter Netshipale, the deputy director general in community development, told attendees that the government has developed policies and programmes with the aim of eradicating poverty.

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“Poverty remains one of the biggest human calamities in the world, especially in Africa. What pleases us the most, if looking at it nationally, is that Mpumalanga is first when it comes to poverty eradication. The government has done so much but each one of us must do a little in our corner at home. Poverty arises from injustice in society, but we will fight it and win,” he stated.

In her keynote address, the MEC stated that food security as a way to eradicate poverty was the event’s main aim. “Together as government and yourself, we can create a platform for you to fight poverty. Government provides services, but we must also do things for ourselves, rather than just being recipients of services without doing anything in the meantime. We must also ensure that each one, teach one. If you are a specialist in one area, teach others to follow,” she said.

Shiba mentioned that projects such as agricultural cooperatives consisting of women should be supported, as an example of such initiatives.