Was the generosity provided to storm victims abused?
Asked about claims that whites, Indians and coloureds were ignored - as was alleged at a gathering of hopeful beneficiaries in Forestdale on Thursday - Bishop Gumede said this was not true.
The devastating storm of January 25 brought out the best and the worst in the community. There was the heart-warming response to the call for volunteers to look for three siblings washed away by the swollen Steenkoolspruit.
Two of the three children have been found but an attempt to rouse the community to search for little Ayabonga Steele fell mainly on deaf eyes and ears. The call was made by resident, Taryn Kallie, but too few people turned up to make any search meaningful.
The De Beer family gave a generous R250 000 to bring relief to those who suffered when the storm cut a terrifying swath of destruction through Dundee.
Over 120 homes were damaged – some totally – while there were reports of houses and buildings being flooded from all over Dundee.
The relief operation was managed by the Endumeni Municipality’s Disaster Management Centre while volunteers Preshu Singh was given R50 000 of the R250 000 to buy food parcels for those in need.
The Gift of the Givers also came on board and they too gave out food in Sibongile. Bishop Matthew Gumede handled the balance by encouraging those in need to report to the Shoprite parking area over two days last week to collect food and/or building material vouchers to be redeemed at Boxer Supermarket and other shops.
Bishop Gumede said ‘things went smoothly on Monday as we had a list of needy people to work from’. However, things got chaotic on Tuesday with thousands turning up and demanding food parcels.
“We could not handle the rush. People did not want vouchers for building materials to fix their homes – they demanded food vouchers even though we explained that it is imperative to first fix their roofs should it rain again and their food would be spoilt,” he told the Courier.
Many people who ‘just happened to be walking past the Shoprite parking area’ joined the throngs hoping to cash in.
“Many abused the system. Even people not from Dundee. So it may be that those in need did not get.” There were even stories of some ‘selling their food hampers for liquor’.
Asked about claims that whites, Indians and coloureds were ignored – as was alleged at a gathering of hopeful beneficiaries in Forestdale on Thursday – Bishop Gumede said this was not true.
“We helped where we could.
“As I said some abused the system and the generosity provided.” On Thursday, over 80 people gathered at Coronation Park as they had been told to wait there for food vouchers.
“We have been waiting since 10am and no one has been here. Last night we waited until 6pm at Boxer but no one came to give us food vouchers,” one woman told the Courier who said she had suffered storm damage at a home in the Mpati area.
Asked about this, Bishop Gumede said Shoprite management had asked him to arrange another venue where people could gather to collect vouchers.
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“We asked them to go to Coronation Park and meet in other places like at Forestdale. I did go to Coronation Park to tell people that unfortunately all the food vouchers had been used up. I am sorry if some deserving people missed out. Obviously, we did not realise so many would attempt to cash in at the expense of those in need.” Bishop Gumede mentioned that he received an SMS from someone claiming that in one household, five people received vouchers. The Bishop also added that he still gets people coming to his house and receives phone calls, inquiring about the vouchers.
The Courier has heard that some people from as far as Hattngspruit and Nyanyadu had lined up to claim food parcels even though they did not suffer any storm damage. “I heard that my domestic servant who lives in Hattingsrpruit had received a voucher and I thought I would also try and get one,” admitted one woman, who declined to be identified.
On Saturday, Preshu Singh sourced another 100 food hampers from TFS Wholesalers and these were distributed, with the help of the Courier, too many of those who had missed out because of the loopholes in the system.
