By: Zethu Gweva
After Ntombentsha Rasonti’s identity document and Sassa card got burnt, she and her family depend on food from the township soup kitchens and expired food from supermarkets given to farms to feed pigs.
The unemployed 45-year-old who lives in Makhwenkweni at Cambridge location said her ID and Sassa card got burnt at a loan shark’s shack where she left her cards after she had borrowed a R100 to buy baby food for her grandchild. She expressed that they mainly depended on the child support grant.
“I left my cards with him so that when I get paid he can take the money that I owe him. A few days after I borrowed money from him I heard that his shack got burnt along with my cards and since then, I have been struggling to put food on the table for my children,” said Rasonti.
She added that the loan shark gave her R125 to go do a temporary ID, when she arrived at Home Affairs she was told the system was down and ended up using the same money to buy food as they had not eaten in days.
“After I arrived home I realized that there is no food, I had to rush to a nearby shop to buy something to eat for me and my children,” she said.
Explaining their food schedule with the farm, Rasonti’s daughter Thandiswa Rasonti said they receive food from the farm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and if they miss any of those days they sleep with empty stomachs.
“My mother goes there to get us food and it’s a long walking distance for our sakes she walks the distance to get us food,” she said.
The Eastern Cape Department of Social Development Spokesperson Gcobani Maswana said struggling families who are in need of the government’s help, should go to register their names at government offices for assistance.
“And we are pleading with the neighbours to assist each other, there shouldn’t be families who go to bed with empty stomachs whereas they have neighbours,” said Maswana.