Social development minister Lindiwe Zulu says 46 SA Post Office branches were damaged during the July unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Zulu said some branches situated in parts of Gauteng have not resumed operations, a setback that is hampering service delivery.
Zulu testified virtually before the SA Human Rights Commission during its hearings into the causes of the unrest that ravaged parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July.
Here are five telling quotes from her testimony:
Food security and other programmes affected by the unrest
“The July unrest severely disrupted the food supply chain networks and affected food distribution and mainly food accessed by the poor and vulnerable. This is because the disruption had an impact on the department, community nutrition and development centres.”
SA Post Offices were forced to close in KwaZulu-Natal
“In KwaZulu-Natal, 21 Sapo offices in Umgungundlovu, Ugu, Harry Gwala and Ulundi districts experienced severe destruction. That had an impact on clients using merchants and ATMs. In Gauteng, 25 Sapo grants offices were damaged. To date, ten are still not fully functional, mostly the ones in malls, for instance, the one in Jabulani Mall.
Children were arrested during the unrest
“In Gauteng, the majority arrested were from Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg. All the children who were arrested during the period of the unrest were assessed accordingly in line with the Child Justice Act and placed with their parents.”
Assessing living conditions of government beneficiaries
“Through our offices at provincial and local level,we have information about children who live in child-headed households, the indigent, those who need support from us — that information is constantly with us. The conditions and state of our people is something that lives with us all the time.”
Food parcels and food vouchers
“We have what we call the social relief of distress for people who are affected by fire or for people who are in a dire state where we provide a standard food parcel which is a starch, veggies, fish and legumes. We also realise that we can give people vouchers and give them options to buy the kind of food they want to buy.”
IN QUOTES | 46 post offices damaged in July unrest: Lindiwe Zulu
Image: Linda Mthombeni
Social development minister Lindiwe Zulu says 46 SA Post Office branches were damaged during the July unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Zulu said some branches situated in parts of Gauteng have not resumed operations, a setback that is hampering service delivery.
Zulu testified virtually before the SA Human Rights Commission during its hearings into the causes of the unrest that ravaged parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July.
Here are five telling quotes from her testimony:
Food security and other programmes affected by the unrest
“The July unrest severely disrupted the food supply chain networks and affected food distribution and mainly food accessed by the poor and vulnerable. This is because the disruption had an impact on the department, community nutrition and development centres.”
SA Post Offices were forced to close in KwaZulu-Natal
“In KwaZulu-Natal, 21 Sapo offices in Umgungundlovu, Ugu, Harry Gwala and Ulundi districts experienced severe destruction. That had an impact on clients using merchants and ATMs. In Gauteng, 25 Sapo grants offices were damaged. To date, ten are still not fully functional, mostly the ones in malls, for instance, the one in Jabulani Mall.
Children were arrested during the unrest
“In Gauteng, the majority arrested were from Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg. All the children who were arrested during the period of the unrest were assessed accordingly in line with the Child Justice Act and placed with their parents.”
Assessing living conditions of government beneficiaries
“Through our offices at provincial and local level,we have information about children who live in child-headed households, the indigent, those who need support from us — that information is constantly with us. The conditions and state of our people is something that lives with us all the time.”
Food parcels and food vouchers
“We have what we call the social relief of distress for people who are affected by fire or for people who are in a dire state where we provide a standard food parcel which is a starch, veggies, fish and legumes. We also realise that we can give people vouchers and give them options to buy the kind of food they want to buy.”
READ MORE
Govt ‘continuing its quest’ for basic income grant: Lindiwe Zulu
Many children were arrested during July unrest and looting, says social development minister, Lindiwe Zulu
LISTEN | Sassa KZN issued R3.8m worth food vouchers to 5,518 families after unrest: Zulu
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most read
Latest Videos