Religious communities partners with government to launch the Family Based Model |
By Siphumelele Mdyodyo
Chris Hani District
The Department of Social Development resolved to launch its “Family Based Model” during the month of May 2015 under the theme “SAKHA AMAKHAYA AZIZISEKO EZILUQILIMA”.
The launch was preceded by a Door to Door campaign led by Social Development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi. The MEC visited Sterkstroom, Whittlesea, Engcobo in Chris Hani District, Zwelitsha in Buffalo City Municipality, Helenvale and Chatty in Nelson Mandela Metro Municpality. The objective of these visits was to assess the living conditions of families and to assist them with basic necessities. |
The visits were graced by a delegation that consisted of religious leaders, community and traditional leaders. Supplementing the visits were social relief deliverables to temporarily assist distressed households as this mediation fully supports the Family Based Model that advocates prioritising family units for every service delivery related interventions and programmes.
About 30 households (10 each area) were visited by the MEC handing over some deliverables and pronouncing commitments to all assessed families according to their varying needs. Moreover, the identified families are believed to be destitute owing to low or insufficient source of income to accommodate all household members, school uniforms were also given to needy learners.
The MEC also pronounced that the department is going to supply each of these households with gardening tools (i.e. spade, fork, spade, horse pipe, wheelbarrow, rake, and seeds) so that family members can start ploughing gardens to have something eat and sell.
Sterkstroom
At Sterkstroom, a cheque worth R140 000 was handed over to Lukhanji Inkwanca Teenagers Against Drug Abuse (TADA) group.
Whittlesea
During the door to door campaign in Whittlesea on 12 & 13 May 2015, the MEC visited the home of Mrs Tasi Emily Stemele, 72, who is a widow, blind and bedridden with no one to look after her, a community development worker and ward committee members have been voluntarily taking care of the old lady. The Mbam family of four was also visited, the family was mourning the passing of a 9 year old disabled boy whom they depended on his disability grant for survival. A commitment of providing groceries for the funeral and finding the mother of two a job was made. Two families with disabled persons in need of wheelchairs were discovered as a result an immediate request was made to the Department of Health to assist, a day later the wheelchairs were handed over.
Engcobo
At Engcobo the delegation visited Mdlunkulu Village and went to Matiwane family that lost about three members, who were brutally murdered in one night during January this year. The family was provided with food parcels and gardening tools.
The MEC made emphasis in all her visits that “the department is here to strengthen families that will yield healthy communities, all what members have to do, is to love and care for each other for families to be warm”. Recipients of the deliverables showed gratitude with some displaying that with tears, promising the MEC and entire delegation that the deliverables will be utilised for the good intended purposes.
Zwelitsha, Chatty and Helenvale
The delegation led by the MEC and religious leaders visited 10 households where food parcels were handed to families. |