Tsintsabis
The drought relief scheme list in Tsintsabis consists of the names of deceased people and those who have relocated from Tsintsabis where some members of the San community are saying they have been sidelined and as a result have not received any drought food.
The complaints came recently after hundreds of people received bags of maize and cans of fish as part of the ongoing drought relief programme. This is the second time the community of Tsintsabis has received food from the drought relief programme this year.
The last time the food was distributed at Tsintsabis was in March. The sidelined include people from other ethnic groups though Tsintsabis is mainly inhabited by the San. Betty Kaula, the constituency councillor of Guinas under which Tsintsabis falls confirmed that some people, particulaly the San, have been sidelined and could not receive the drought food.
“I am aware of the issues – it is because the list which is there is outdated thus it does not include those that just came in recent years. The list comes way back from my predecessors. I also just found out that the list even includes names of those that are deceased and those that no longer live in the area,” said Kaula, speaking from South Africa where she is on official duty.
“I realised this the last time we were distributing canned fish. Before I travelled to South Africa, I had instructed the control administration officer to conduct new registration per household and update the old list so that all those not on the list can also benefit,” she said. Further, she noted, the majority of those who have not received any food are mainly newcomers, emphasising there is a surplus to be extended to those that have not yet benefitted. Although last weekend was supposed to be joyous, it turned sour as squabbles erupted at the distribution point as they pushed each other to receive food.
Tsintsabis Combined School chairperson Joel Petersen, who availed the school hall as a receiving point, attributed the chaos to the lack of an adequate facility that could house a large number of people. “You can see the hall is small – so everyone is forcing their way inside. If we had a bigger facility this would not happen. We thus ask government to at least build a community hall or warehouse where we can conduct such programmes involving a large crowd,” said a disappointed Petersen.
Petersen’s generosity however led him into another problem as electric cables were damaged in the process when the delivery truck was manoeuvring to reach the school hall and offload the food.
“Trying to solve one problem has created another – which would be avoided if we had our own facility. Thus I appeal to government to look into this issue,” pleaded Petersen.