Media Statement: #Each1Feed1 lockdown food distribution in the area of Nelson Mandela's Qunu farm

To respond to the increased levels of food insecurity, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Imbumba Foundation and Kolisi Foundation have partnered on an initiative called #Each1Feed1. The name of the initiative is inspired by the old Congress of South African Students (COSAS) mantra “Each one, teach one” and is adopted in honour of OR Tambo.

From this partnership, the initiative has distributed food parcels in Makhado in Vhembe District (Limpopo), Zwide in the Nelson Mandela Bay, Makhanda Local Municipality, Qunu and Mvezo in the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality (Eastern Cape); Zandspruit, Orange Farm, Alexandra, Pimville (Gauteng);  Kanyamazane (Mpumalanga); Pongola, Ulundi, Kwa Dlangezwa, Kwa Nqobokazi, Bergville and Durban (KwaZulu-Natal) as well as Thaba Nchu (Free State).

Over the last week the initiative also supported 100 employees of Bongani Mountain Lodge in Mpumalanga Province and started on a project to provide boreholes to address the water shortages. It has also given support to people living with disabilities in Thaba Nchu. Speaking on behalf of the Association of People with Disabilities, Nthabiseng Molongwana said “For someone who gets a social grant of R1800 a month this [food parcel] is a big deal, because people who have a disability must still buy a wheelchair or hearing aid” making a grant insufficient. She said this initiative gave dignity to many during this time of Covid-19. 

We are particularly encouraged by a community in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, where those who can afford to are also lending a hand and giving to a locally established food bank to empower families who have been devastated by the lockdown and face food insecurity. This community has been showing solidarity and humanity by practising the ethos of #Each1Feed1.

At a distribution in Zwide, Siya Kolisi’s hometown, one of the beneficiaries recognized Siya and said they remember how, when Siya was a child, he would come to their door asking for food and leftovers and how they are thankful that he has returned to give back to them. Many of the beneficiaries the partnership visited during the door-to-door food distributions live in dire conditions unrelated to the lockdown. However, the lockdown has further limited their income-generating opportunities.

On Saturday, the 9th of May, the partnership distributed food parcels to 500 families in the birthplace of Nelson Mandela, Mvezo, and in Qunu, his hometown and the resting place of Nelson Mandela.

Upon receiving the food parcels, Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela, the chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela, expressed gratitude to the partnership for empowering families to fight this pandemic in the short-term. “We are very grateful as the Mandela Family to have been identified in this area of Madiba’s burial place in Qunu where we have been able, through the initiative, #Each1Feed1, championed by the Nelson Mandela Foundation together with the [Siya] Kolisi Foundation, the Kaizer Motaung Jr Foundation, and Imbumba Foundation. We have been able to bring together 500 food parcels for 500 beneficiaries.” shared Chief Zwelivelile Mandela. “Qunu by locality, being placed in rural South Africa, it faces the same challenges of many rural communities of the serious plight of poverty without real access to basic amenities such as clean drinkable water, basic sanitation, and those are the challenges where we have a high rate of joblessness and unemployment and a lot of the people depend on grants. So we welcome such initiatives that we see being championed by the citizenry across the country who have lent a hand to the plight of people in rural areas.”

#Each1Feed1 is made possible by the generous contributions from:

Anchor donors

Old Mutual

ATC South Africa

Pfizer

Hanns Seidel Foundation

Lighthouse Foundation

Hollywood Bets

Thebe Foundation

AngloGold Ashanti

Fourways Airconditioning

South32

Westpack Lifestyle

Goodbye Malaria

Food Lover's Market

Ball Family Foundation

67blankets

Supporting donors/sponsors and ambassadors

Adidas

Redbull

Dove men care

Mercedes Benz

Kaizer Motaung Jnr

Maps Maponyane

Catherine Constantinides

Nomzamo Mbatha

The Nelson Mandela Foundation, Imbumba Foundation and Kolisi Foundation send a special thank you to individual donors who have been contributing through different platforms.

To contribute please visit:

www.nelsonmandela.org

www.imbumbafoundation.org

www.kolisifoundation.org

[ENDS]

For media enquiries:

Luzuko Koti

Spokesperson of the Nelson Mandela Foundation

LuzukoK@NelsonMandela.org  

+27 (0)82 994 0349