THE death of four children at Verdwaal in North West has spiralled into new life and hope for the villagers with organisations and government focusing attention on their plight.
This follows reports in Sowetan about four children who died after walking kilometres in search of their parents and food.
Sowetan's investigation found that the villagers lived in abject poverty while most of them could not access government social grants because they did not have identity documents.
Yesterday a high-ranking delegation from the North West premier's office and other departments visited the Mmupele family and the community of Verdwaal village near Lichtenburg to assess the situation.
Gift of the Givers, the largest disaster relief organisation in Africa, donated food parcels worth R200000 to 300 families in the area.
Social d evelopment officials profiled all the families to determine the number of employed people per household and how many have IDs .
Gift of the Givers chief executive Allauddin Sayyd said he was shocked to learn of the children's deaths.
"The first time when I read this story in the newspaper I was really shocked. I never thought such things happen in South Africa. We always hear of such stories [from other countries] on the continent but not here.
"I felt like I had failed the children who died because I never anticipated anything like this happening in South Africa," Sayyd said.
He promised to return to the area next Tuesday to donate more food parcels to 700 more families.
The grieving mother, Martha Mmupele, said: "I'm very happy to receive these parcels, but I also feel very sad because my children are dead. As much as I'm grateful, these will not bring back my children.
"My family has accepted the situation and we are trying to move on with our lives."
South African Social Security Agency spokesman Smangaliso Semeleni said they would ensure that every individual in Verdwaal had an identity document, which would allow them to access social grants, within two weeks.
Verdwaal Ward 10 councillor Jomo Matshogo said he was happy that there was help coming in. He said they will form poverty alleviation programmes within the community to fight hunger.
Poverty-stricken Verdwaal gets aid
THE death of four children at Verdwaal in North West has spiralled into new life and hope for the villagers with organisations and government focusing attention on their plight.
This follows reports in Sowetan about four children who died after walking kilometres in search of their parents and food.
Sowetan's investigation found that the villagers lived in abject poverty while most of them could not access government social grants because they did not have identity documents.
Yesterday a high-ranking delegation from the North West premier's office and other departments visited the Mmupele family and the community of Verdwaal village near Lichtenburg to assess the situation.
Gift of the Givers, the largest disaster relief organisation in Africa, donated food parcels worth R200000 to 300 families in the area.
Social d evelopment officials profiled all the families to determine the number of employed people per household and how many have IDs .
Gift of the Givers chief executive Allauddin Sayyd said he was shocked to learn of the children's deaths.
"The first time when I read this story in the newspaper I was really shocked. I never thought such things happen in South Africa. We always hear of such stories [from other countries] on the continent but not here.
"I felt like I had failed the children who died because I never anticipated anything like this happening in South Africa," Sayyd said.
He promised to return to the area next Tuesday to donate more food parcels to 700 more families.
The grieving mother, Martha Mmupele, said: "I'm very happy to receive these parcels, but I also feel very sad because my children are dead. As much as I'm grateful, these will not bring back my children.
"My family has accepted the situation and we are trying to move on with our lives."
South African Social Security Agency spokesman Smangaliso Semeleni said they would ensure that every individual in Verdwaal had an identity document, which would allow them to access social grants, within two weeks.
Verdwaal Ward 10 councillor Jomo Matshogo said he was happy that there was help coming in. He said they will form poverty alleviation programmes within the community to fight hunger.
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