The South African government is set to donate R50 Million to Cuba’s feeding scheme but with hunger such a rife problem here, 60 charities are hoping to divert the money where it is needed most; in South Africa.
South Africa (24 February 2022) – Charitable resources in South Africa are scarce so when feeding schemes heard that the South African government planned to send a R50 million donation to Cuba’s feeding scheme, they quickly launched a petition urging the government to divert the funds back to South Africa, where hunger is a very serious problem.
The coalition of organisations that have united to make this happen, are involved in the daily fight against the growing hunger problem in South Africa. They have issued a statement demanding that government halts the donation of R50 million to Cuba and instead directs the funds towards an immediate, independent investigation into the root causes of, and solutions to, hunger in South Africa.
The coalition is made up of 60 South African organisations working on the frontline of hunger in the country. It includes national and regional hunger relief, humanitarian, disaster response, food rescue and feeding scheme NGOs.
The 60 organisations are seeing an increase in hungry people and need in South Africa.
“Despite the enormous effort and resources the Coalition of organisations collectively put into the daily battle against hunger, the ravages continue unabated. Each one of the organisations report exponentially increased need. All convey stories of desperation, impassioned pleas from a growing number of people desperately reaching out on their social media platforms, websites, and in person with stories of starving children, and sick and elderly without the means to feed themselves or their families.
The Coalition believes that, against this backdrop, the donation of R50 million to a foreign country on the basis of international relations is a gross misallocation of funds, at best. These organisations have united to call upon government not just to halt the donation to Cuba, but more importantly to meet with them to discuss ways in which to collaboratively address the dire and growing problem, and to take collaborative action to end hunger in our own country.”
Chefs with Compassion printed out the petition today and delivered it to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
“A petition by 60 NGOs with 16,778 signatures was handed over to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, SA this morning to halt the donation of R50m to Cuba for hunger relief. We are calling on DIRCO to help us ensure Government focuses their attention on addressing the problem of our own country.” – Chefs with Compassion
“This morning, the coalition of 60 hunger relief NGOs handed over the petition to Clayson Monyela, Acting DG of DIRCO. The good news is that the R50 million has not left South Africa yet. More good news is that DIRCO has indicated that they are willing to engage with the coalition. An official letter will be sent to Mr Monyela today, giving him a week to respond.
In this week, we are calling on South Africans to continue voicing your objections to the donation by signing this petition. We will also be sending the petition to the other two government departments we are including in this demand – the Department of Social Department and the Office of the President, Cyril Ramaphosa.”
“The demand is quite simple: Focus on the hunger problems within our own borders. Treat hunger as the pandemic it is. Collaborate with the researchers, NGOs, entrepreneurs, innovators, and change agents who have the solutions to ending hunger once and for all.
Help us bring about real change by sharing this petition on your social media platforms using the hashtag #DIRCOFeedSAFirst.”
You can still sign the petition here, the more names on the list, the more chance of being heard!