By Umamah Bakharia

A coalition of around 60 civil society organisations plans to hand over a petition to the Department of Internal Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO), to halt its donation of R50-million to Cuba.

The multi-million rand donation to Cuban hunger relief comes at a time when food insecurity in South Africa has increased significantly because of a deteriorating economy and rising unemployment.

Radio Islam spoke to one such organisation Nosh Food Rescue’s, Hanneke van Linge, who is against the Cuban donation.

“Our objection is that in the context of current situation[s] in South Africa itself, we feel that it is a misplaced gesture and that money can be better placed fixing hunger and food security at home,” said van Linge.

However, she believes that civil society organisations will not be able to stop the donation to Cuba but is hopeful that this will influence the dialogue of hunger and food security in South Africa.

The National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) found that during April/May 2021, approximately 2.3 million households reported child hunger, while an Ipsos study revealed that more than 40% of South Africans of all age groups were affected by hunger.

“The problem on the ground is dire,” said van Linge. She adds: “hunger is not purely a ‘stand-alone’ problem, it’s a result of many systemic ills and those in the long term are going to need to be addressed.”

The petition will be handed over to DIRCO on Thursday.