The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) has today handed over food packs and blankets to the families of the Witsand informal settlement in Atlantis, Western Cape, whose shacks were destroyed by a raging fire in the early hours of this morning.
An unidentified 18-year-old man reportedly died in the fire and nine families were affected, resulting in approximately 30 people being displaced.
The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson, visited the affected families today and offered them her department’s support as part of her portfolio’s responsibility for food security.
About 200 blankets, 200 food packs and 30 baby packs were handed over to the fire victims by officials from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
“I am visiting you on behalf of the national government to offer support and assistance and to assess the extent of the damage caused by the fire as part of my responsibility in the cluster is food security. I did not come here to lobby for votes as the elections have come and gone. I wanted to make sure that not only do you have something to eat today, but that you receive nutritious food”, Joemat-Pettersson told the families.
“It’s bitterly cold here so government saw it fit and proper to provide you with blankets too, to ward off the wintry Western Cape chill”, she added.
The DAFF officials from the fisheries branch were hard at work this afternoon handing over the food packs and the blankets to the affected families.
For further information please contact:
Selby Bokaba, spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Tel: 012 319 7876
Cell: 082 778 0245
