Picture of SA’s poor paints a sad picture
New Beginnings Care Centre, in Boksburg, has for some time now taken on the responsibility of feeding the poor and the hungry of the city.
Not only does this shelter – one of the biggest in Gauteng – take care of some 1 500 destitute residents staying within its walls, but, on a daily basis, it hands out food such as bread to the poor and the needy of the city.
According to Pastor Stephen du Plessis, who runs New Beginnings, the poor economic climate that has caused a spike in unemployment and the cost of living, is now driving more and more people to their gates, seeking help.
At the same time, the numbers of those who come for a daily handout of bread and dairy products also keep on swelling.
“We feed about 12 000 people a week now. Not only are we talking about those inside the shelter or those standing for handouts, but we also donate what we have left over to other organisations who run feeding schemes,” du Plessis said. He added that many of those who line up day after day at the shelter rely on that one loaf of bread just to keep on surviving.
“We receive no state funding, but we have been fortunate to receive donations from companies to help to feed the desperate of Boksburg.
“We have, for example, been blessed by the wonderful donations from Danone, who provide us with tonnes of dairy products daily, and also from Albany, who deliver bread.
“Times are very tough on the street. We can help only so many by taking them in and sheltering them, and we can do only so much to help those who wake up in the mornings hoping to fill their stomachs with some sort of food.”
Du Plessis said that, at the beginning of the month the turnout at the gates is but minimal, running into the hundreds, since people have received social grants or pension funds.
“But it does not take long for the hundreds to swell to thousands, when the social grants have been spent,” he added.
Du Plessis does, however, point out that some of those who end up in the queues looking for food are victims of their own choices and actions.
“Let us be honest, there are those who simply do not want to work, but find it easier to live on social grants,” he said.
“A problem in this country is that we encourage people to live on grants instead of creating an environment of employment.
“And then, as we see on daily basis at the shelter, there are those who spend all their money on alcohol or drugs instead of buying food.
“Yes, some are unemployed because of the harsh times we are facing in this country, but many are making things worse for themselves.”
Du Plessis feels especially sad for the many children who suffer due to the hardships at home.
“Daily, children line up with a parent or both parents, which means they don’t go to school. Now we have a situation of children receiving no education, and they grow up with the twisted reality that the one way to survive is to beg.
“This, of course, also leads to many youths resorting to crime, because they have never been given the opportunity to make something of their lives.
“Children who are not in school will end up on the streets and they will resort to all negative means to take care of themselves and their families.”
Du Plessis said he does not know for how long they can keep on feeding the thousands. This is dependent on donations, but they keep fighting the scourge of poverty.
q SA’s unemployment rate at the moment is around 25 per cent, with some economists estimating the situation is far worse.
Statistics South Africa has recently reported food inflation in South Africa averaged 6.36 per cent from 2009 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 15.75 per cent in January of 2009 and a record low of 0.73 per cent in June, 2010.
However, the cost of food has already increased by 4.40 per cent in July, 2015, over the same month in the previous year.
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