Durban — The local inkosi of St Faiths and other Umzumbe communities said the services offered to the residents by KZN Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza would improve many lives among the rural people, especially those who needed to apply for IDs, birth certificates and also Sassa grant applications.
This was after Khoza visited St Faith’s, in Umzumbe Municipality on Tuesday, during the department’s Operation Sigalelekile.
Inkosi Bheki Hadebe said the people of the area had struggled without such services, which were available in big towns and cities, leaving the rural communities starving for such.
Khoza handed out Social Relief of Distress packages to 249 families who had been identified as needing assistance by social workers.
The packages contained food items such as flour, mielie meal, beans, sugar, and cabbages among other items.
The impoverished recipients said they were happy that these would go a long way to alleviate the food shortages they faced every day.
In addition to providing Social Relief of Distress, Khoza also handed out farming equipment, sanitary packages for school girls and blankets to the elderly in the community.
She said Operation Sigalelekile was made possible by the combined efforts and support of various government departments, including Home Affairs, Sassa, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health.
Khoza said their collaboration highlighted the importance of interdepartmental co-operation in delivering comprehensive services to communities in need. She said the event was just one example of the commitment to uplift communities and ensure a better life for all.
Meanwhile, Khoza has condemned the rampant GBV cases that have been reported in many parts of KZN, saying her department had put plans in place to deal with the scourge and embark on awareness campaigns to make the communities aware of this pandemic.
“We are disturbed by reports of allegations of sexual harassment in some municipalities, and one would like to appeal to honourable members of society to spread the word against any form of abuse and harassment,” Khoza said.
She said that the department would continue to call for legal action against individuals who sought sexual favours from young women or had intimate relationships with underage girls.
“The fact is we should frown upon adults who have intimate relations with underage girls and be explicit in saying that such an act is statutory rape.”
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