The Democratic Alliance DA says it rejects plans by the Gauteng Social Development Department to centralise food bank operations.
The partys Refiloe Ntsekhe says this will see food parcel distribution from the 288 Non-Profit Organisations NPO and the five regional food banks transferred to a central food bank. She says this is concerning because the department lacks the capacity to distribute food centrally.
Ntsekhe adds that beneficiaries may not receive the food they need, leading to a sharp rise in food insecurity.
MEC Faith Mazibuko wants to cancel the NPOs distributing food in our communities and also close down the five regional food banks. What shes in fact doing is taking services away from the people," says Nt'sekhe.
She says NPOs operate closer to the people and understand the needs of the communities.
