People are hungry and want more than handouts, says ANC youth leadership in Soweto

“We don’t just want handouts, we want opportunities,” ANC youth leadership in Soweto told the Chinese government.

Chinese Acting Ambassador to South Africa Li Nan officiated the donation of 1,000 food parcels and 10,000 masks near Jabavu in Soweto on Friday.

The diplomat said the offering was simply a symbolic show of brotherhood between the two nations.

Speaking at the event, Bheki Nkuta, a regional ANC leader, said the community appreciated the act of solidarity, but people in the area would benefit more from opportunities to participate in the economy.

“We have senior citizens who have retired who can make a contribution given the opportunity,” said Nkuta.

ANC zonal secretary Kgomotso Qambi said: “The donation is only a token for now, we are looking at participating in the economy. We want them to teach us how to make bread, not to buy bread they are selling to us. The agenda is simple. We want to learn how to make money.” 

While he was concerned about the increased movement under lockdown Level 3, Soweto residents had suffered dearly from the decreased economic activity. He said people were hungry and could not just rely on handouts.

“Government has been trying to assist with food parcels and the relief grant, but the process is slow and hopefully with Level 3 the economy will begin to open up,” said Qambi.

But a lack of compliance to Covid-19 regulations could threaten that prospect if cases increased as a result.

“As community leaders, we try to remind people to observe social distancing and wear masks, but as you can see there are some compliance issues,” he said.

Soweto fell under region D in Johannesburg, which was among the top three areas in city with the most active cases of Covid-19. In region D, which included Dobsonville, Protea Glen and Doornkop, active cases were estimated at around 170, with 324 total cases and 153 recoveries.

Nan acknowledged the impact of the pandemic on bilateral trade between China and South Africa, but added the countries were in constant engagement at diplomatic and industry levels to counteract some of these challenges.

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