NOLUVO MGIJIMA
THE lack of identity documents for a number of community members in Likhetlane in Ward 16 under the Matatiele Local Municipality has resulted in a high unemployment rate.
This has led to children not having access to birth certificates and child support grants. This poor, remote area in the Eastern Cape has a high unemployment rate and lacks basic necessities such as stable running water and health services. The ward has seven villages, all depending on one clinic.
Most young people leave the area due to underdevelopment. On Tuesday, August 5, the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development, in partnership with Matatiele Local Municipality, South African State Security Agency (SASSA), Department of Health, Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, and other organisations conducted a one-day Integrated Community Registration Outreach Programme (ICROP) at Likhetlane Junior Secondary School.
This was a government initiative to address challenges faced by the community, such as poverty, malnutrition and limited access to resources. The initiative was part of the government’s commitment to fighting poverty and child malnutrition through coordinated and impactful interventions. The ICROP initiative brought much-needed services directly to the community as the programme’s co-ordinator Xola Mananga said that the area was identified as one of the most affected by malnutrition.
“The Department of Social Development in the Eastern Cape discovered that residents, especially children, are suffering from malnutrition. It has been discovered that some children have died as a result of hunger. Bringing the programme to the area will lessen the burden,” he said.
He said a programme of action has been activated to address these challenges to bring about hope and retain the dignity of the people.
At the event, 25 school children were given school uniforms to return their smiles and bring dignity to their education journey.
Food parcels were also donated to families affected by malnutrition, and community cooperatives were given fertilisers as a support scheme for sustainable food production. Villager Thandiwe Shumi Khoarai was pleased to receive food parcels and said that her family will have something to eat. “No one is working in my family. My children don’t have birth certificates and that makes them not benefit from child support grants,” she said.
Now that the Department of Home Affairs rendered its services in the area, Khoarai was able to apply for birth certificates for her children.
Another villager, Zengele Shumi, said bringing services to the community helped them significantly. The mayor of the Matatiele Local Municipality Patrick Stuurman emphasised the significance of the programme in addressing community needs and improving service delivery. According to Mananga, the programme will be taken to Umzimvubu Local Municipality next.
