Page 60 - Rural Voice III - Responding to a Pandemic
P. 60

 Emma goliath
“I would say, before COVID-19, we at The Witzenberg Rural Development Centre were in
a dip. COVID-19 brought us closer together, and made us do more effective work.”
THE PANDEMIC BROUGHT US OUT OF
A DIP AND REMINDED US OF OUR PURPOSE
emma goliaTh describes how The realiTy of lockdown was difficulT, buT iT galvanised her organisaTion inTo acTion, reminding Them of Their mission To serve The communiTy’s neediesT
When I saw President Ramaphosa on TV, announcing level 5 lockdown, it was something not known to us and we had to adjust. Fortunately, we received a grant that enabled us to distribute food parcels. The day before the lockdown, we purchased food hampers for about 120 people. After delivering the parcels, we closed the office and everyone had to go home. It was difficult, because we did not have laptops and only had our phones. We eventually obtained permits, which enabled us to go to farms and out of town to deliver the leftover food hampers.
The impacT of covid on The wiTzenberg communiTy
At the time, about 80% of people adhered to the rules. A lot of agricultural factory workers had to work and were stressing because the taxis weren’t available, and people had to make use of private transport. Those who live in the farming communities were isolated from the rest of the community, because the farm owners didn’t allow people to visit. When we delivered food parcels, we didn’t have access to all the farms where there was need. We had to drop off the food parcels at the farm gates.
WITZENBERG RURAL DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
The Witzenberg Rural Development Centre was established in 2013, in a picturesque fruit-growing region of the Cape Winelands District, which has Ceres as the main town. The Development Centre has a strong focus on gender equality, early childhood development (ECD), food security, paralegal support, and farm workers’ rights.
DISTRICT/MUNICIPALITY: Cape Winelands District
COVID-19 CASES: From March to the 19th November 2020, there were 13,655 COVID-19 infections, and 12,859 recoveries in the Cape Winelands District. Of these cases, 1,729 occurred in the Witzenberg Municipality, with 1,626 recoveries. COORDINATOR: Emma Goliath
NUMBER OF STAFF: 6, NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS: 23
BOARD CHAIR: Vivian Bafazini
BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Sikhali; Malibongwe Menge; Rentia Jansen; Freddie Opperman
ADDRESS: 121 Voortrekker Street, Rooms 1 & 2, Ceres, Western Cape, 6835 PHONE: 076 627 5954, EMAIL: wrdc1@live.com
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RURAL VOICE III: RESPONDING TO A PANDEMIC
















































































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