‘Hermanus is one town’: Lessons learnt during lockdown

More than a million meals were provided to people in need across the Greater Hermanus area, from the start of the Covid-19 lockdown a year ago, according to a wrap-up report from Food4Love and the Red Cross about the food relief efforts in our area. (Food4Love, which ceased operating at the end of February 2021, was a spontaneous civil society effort that sprang up as livelihoods shattered.)

In March 2020 President Cyril Ramaphosa invoked the Disaster Management Act (DMA) of 2002 which recognises, in the language of the law, an event ‘of a magnitude that exceeds the ability of those affected by the disaster to cope with its effects using only their own resources’.

The Act also mandates local government to initiate a disaster management plan to mitigate the severity and consequences of a disaster and to look to post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation.

F4L founder, Natalie Munro and Red Cross chair, Angela Heslop suggest in their report that now, a year later, might be an appropriate time to examine how our local government structures performed.

Worth noting is that Overstrand is the municipality with the second highest population in the Western Cape, with a 2018 estimate of 104 985 people. Its population growth is likewise estimated to be the highest in the province for the foreseeable future, according to the municipality’s most recent 2019 Socio-Economic Profile.

Before Covid19 even started, for many residents Greater Hermanus was not a comfortable or equitable community in which to live.

“We can therefore be inspired by those Hermanus civilians who stepped up,” says Munro. Their contribution was financial (including some international funding) but, for around 125 volunteers, back-breaking hours were spent packing essential vegetables and maize into multi-meal packs – in April 1 800 packs a day, jumping to 2 620 in May. In all, 1 054 000 meals were packed; there is a documented record of each monthly output.

“This happened in a time of deep confusion and fear,” adds Munro, who was inspired to launch F4L because “it was clear what people needed most was love and kindness and of course real sustenance for those whose livelihoods had collapsed. Our food packs provided the basis for a family to feed itself.”

She notes, too, the loneliness and isolation people felt and says that while F4L provided the bulk of food relief in Greater Hermanus, it also offered a sense of community to both volunteers and recipients. “Without the heart-lifting humanity of our volunteers, we couldn’t have achieved this.”

Distribution was managed by William Ntebe whose own network of contacts at drop-off points ensured that food reached those in real need and that no exploitation occurred within the system.

Red Cross Hermanus was tasked by National South African Red Cross to engage with the Overstrand Disaster Management team from the start, acting as an umbrella to F4L. Heslop notes the many challenges and lessons learned, record-keeping being high on the list.

“The unprecedented nature and scale of the disaster and the absence of leadership from the municipality generated a collaborative all-handson-deck spirit. However, while the money and food outputs were tracked, the collection of valuable consumption data that could have been foundational for a poverty assessment, was not.”

The uncertainty surrounding funding and support was dealt a further blow in September 2020 with a surprise announcement that municipal funds supporting Overstrand soup kitchens would be ‘redirected’ to ‘community vegetable gardens’. What had been a lifeline to as many as 10 000 people across Zwelihle, Mount Pleasant, Hawston and other communities disappeared with a mayoral stroke of the pen.

“We have ended the F4L operation because we appreciate that feeding cannot be a long-term solution,” says Heslop. “But as we think about the future, our greatest take-out as civil society has to be a recognition that our official structures failed us entirely with respect to leadership. “There was a certain amount of political assistance and some guidance at State and Provincial level, but our local leaders were on mute,” she adds.

Heslop and Munro list some of the challenges ahead, among them the hard realities around food-growing schemes, which should not move ahead without wide community consultation and feasibility studies.

They stress the urgent need for a thorough poverty assessment to understand the economic impact of the pandemic and the deep pre-existing inequalities.

In collaboration with the Hermanus Varsity Trust (HVT), Munro has proposed a Veg House concept to teach people about self-sufficiency and gardening. She is also reaching out to the wealth of farming wisdom in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley.

In terms of data collection, Heslop reports that a November survey saw a number of people learn digital skills using cellphones. This work continues through SharpDigital, a Zwelihle-based NPO.

“With the invigorating experience of community participation top of mind, we urge Overstrand leadership to appreciate its value and to find its own voice of compassion,” urges Heslop.

“It must demonstrate that the community is seen and heard, and make a trustworthy commitment to broad consultation. A vision for the Overstrand is only possible if everyone feels a part of it.”

Munro adds: “The pandemic definitively ends the outdated notion that Hermanus is an affluent town with a service dormitory settlement. It is one town, one village; it has one road running through it that we all share.”