Second Phase Of Food Relief Presents Problems

  • Relaxed lockdown means different things to different households
  • A total review of households implies delays and costs to recall temporary social workers

SESUPO RANTSIMAKO

FRANCISTOWN: As the COVID-19 food relief enters its second phase, the government is reportedly in a dilemma regarding its implementation after the lifting of extreme social distancing that separated people from their livelihoods.

The Coordinator of the programme, Gabriel Seeletso, is finding it difficult to determine who should receive the food hampers. One problem is that re-assessment of households would delay the roll-out and prove expensive for the government because temporary social workers would be needed again.

According to Seeletso, he is yet to meet with stakeholders to appreciate the challenges faced in the first phase. “We have to check if the situation of households that benefited in the first phase is still the same,” he says. “This is to see if the breadwinner has relocated and if the number of household members is still the same. We will use the information that we already have but we must re-look the whole situation of households.”