Western Cape councilors cannot distribute food

On Wednesday, the province’s Local Government Department confirmed the obvious: councilors are not allowed to participate in the distribution of food packages.

According to Graham Paulse, head of the department, the municipal speakers were informed of this through a protocol that eliminates “councilmen from the distribution of food”. Paulse, MEC Anton Bredell and department officials briefed members of the Covid-19 oversight committee of the Western Cape legislature on Wednesday afternoon on issues related to disaster management and local government oversight.

Paulse said the department had allocated R16.2 million to use in additional aid programs for “initiatives implemented and seeks to reach out to citizens who traditionally will not meet the media testing criteria used by Sassa. [the SA Social Security Agency] and DSD [the Department of Social Development] in their food provision programs. ”

During a question and answer session, Paulse revealed that no councilor in the Western Cape can participate in food distribution in any municipality. At previous committee meetings, there were allegations of distribution of food packages along party lines. Daily maverick has published several articles specifically related to food distribution and food policy in the Western Cape, which are available here and here.

But on Wednesday, Paulse said the department “has taken a protocol that councilors are out of food distribution.” This protocol was presented to the provincial cabinet and then distributed to the speakers of the municipalities, Paulse said. The HoD said that copies of this protocol could be provided to committee members upon request.

Following a question from DA committee member Derrick America, Paulse said there were no formal complaints against any councilor in the Western Cape accused of distributing food through the party’s political lines. This runs counter to what was previously said by several members of the opposition committee, who had accused the DA of politicizing food packages.

But Bredell warned that the food supply is becoming a financial burden for some municipalities. ” In addition, he warned that because residents in some cases could no longer afford to pay fees to municipalities, it could lead to a situation that “will later affect the provision of services.” The MEC said that he and his department will closely monitor municipalities in the province to help in this regard. DM