The youngsters lost their jobs because of COVID-19, they had to find a way to put food on the table in the long term. The R350 grant was all they had.
Eastern Cape, South Africa (16 March 2022) – Five young people from an Eastern Cape rural town are breeding success after putting their Social Relief of Distress grant to good use.
The President declared the National State of Disaster as a result of the Covid-19 global pandemic in March 2020. The Government also introduced a special COVID-9 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD) of R350 to be paid to individuals who are currently unemployed, do not receive any form of income, social grant or UIF payment etc.
According to New Frame, most South Africans on the grant say they spent their R350 first on starch, which includes either mealie meal, rice or potatoes. Then they buy some sort of protein, either soya mince, pilchards, chicken or small portions of cheaper cuts of beef such as tripe, liver and lungs. At the bottom of the list – if there is money left over – are spices, soups and vegetables such as onions and tomatoes.
Ndumi Mhlungu, 25, from Mondlo, a small town south of Vryheid, says she wishes the grant could buy more essentials but is grateful for the little it provides.
“We were eating only pap and soup when the grant came in, so I bought mealie meal, a chicken braai pack and potatoes and that was it because food is expensive nowadays. You can’t buy much with R350, but it helped us,” says Mhlungu.
But five cousins from Nobumba Village in Peddie used their monthly R350 grant to start the Bayeni Poultry Cooperative, which sells broiler chickens to surrounding villages and the town of Makhanda.
Bayeni chairperson Phumlisa Ngabase (26) explained that when the cousins lost their jobs because of COVID-19, they had to find a way to put food on the table in the long term.
“Our vision was to get up and do something for ourselves,” Ngabase said.
Using their pooled R1,750, the newly formed Cooperative applied for assistance from the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR), which donated 10 bags of feed and 150 day-old chicks, a plucker machine and water tanks to the young entrepreneurs. DRDAR also trained the youngsters.
“DRDAR officials gave us information packs about the different stages of growing chickens and the types of feed to use at each stage,” Ngabase said.
Members of the cooperative also received information about registering a cooperative and applying for assistance from the department.
“We are constantly in touch with our extension officer for advice,” said Ngabase.
“The assistance we have received from the department has minimised our challenges, and we are starting to see profits.”
Ngabase said they chose the agriculture sector because it offers endless opportunities for young people. Eastern Cape MEC of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform Nonkqubela Pieters said the Bayeni Poultry Cooperative has done commendable work.
“They have changed R350 monthly grants into an investment.”
MEC Pieter added that the DRDAR recently donated 400 chicks and 15 bags of feed, 2,400 vegetable seedlings, 10 wheelbarrows, 20 bags of pig feed, garden tools and a plucker machine to 17 other youth projects in Peddie.
Emerging farmers seeking similar assistance should contact DRDAR’s extension services at 043 602 5006/7 or visit www.drdar.gov.za.
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