Government distances itself from food distribution message

A Gauteng department has distanced itself from a message over the distribution of food parcels which was reportedly being circulated on social media.

“The Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD) has noted the messages on social media about the distribution of food parcels in the province and distances itself as this is not an official communication from the department and must be ignored,” departmental spokesperson Feziwe Ndwayana said.

“Since March 2020, the department implement a special food relief programme as part of the Covid-19 response when the country was in hard lockdown.”

Ndwayana explained that although the department was still giving out food parcels, they were doing so on a smaller scale, targeting families or those which met the service requirements of the department and not the “general public”.

“The social media posting is therefore incorrect and misleading.”

“The department has long scaled down on the massive Covid food relief programme,” Ndwayana said, adding they were encouraging communities to follow the department’s official social media platforms in order to get accurate information.

Meanwhile, the department’s deputy director general for social welfare services Onkemetse Kabasia said by the end of September 2020, their special food programme had distributed food relief to over 537 388 families and reached over 2 686 940 people in Gauteng province.

“The programme has since scaled down as it was a special project with a special budget allocation which was linked to the hard lockdown,” he said.

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