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Cde Eunice Nomthandazo Moyo

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
THE Government should continue supporting vulnerable households in Bulawayo as the bumper harvest has not improved their situation, the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in Bulawayo, Cde Nomthandazo Eunice Moyo, has said.

The Minister said the plight of the disabled, elderly and child-head families in Bulawayo was still a concern.

Cde Moyo said although the country recorded a good harvest this year, it was still critical for the Government to continue supporting the vulnerable in urban areas.

“The vulnerable groups will always be there, it doesn’t matter the kind of situation. They will always be there because their whole life depends on welfare. We have the disabled, old age people who can no longer work. Those are the people we are concerned about and also child-headed families whom we can’t dump on the basis of having a bumper harvest,” she said.

Cde Moyo said the Department of Social Welfare should continuously update its data base so as to ascertain the number of people who need assistance.

“The welfare cases in our province remain a challenge and there is no way we can say let’s reduce their number. How do we reduce the number of people who cannot fend for themselves? My belief is that, that list has to be updated because it will give us a fresh mandate to operate on the exact proper numbers in the towns,” she said.

Cde Moyo said unemployment was creating social conflicts in homes, as parents continue taking care of their adult children who are unemployed. She said the revival of Bulawayo industries should be prioritised to improve the lives of residents.

The Minister said the revival of the city’s industries should be spearheaded by small and medium enterprises as it is done at a global stage.

“We need to copy what other countries are doing. The big industry concept is dying. A lot of industries are going smaller, the big ones are now using the small and medium enterprises in order to push ideals yet their retain their trademark,” said Cde Moyo.

Last year, the provincial Minister made a plea to Government to consider supplying food aid to urban dwellers saying they also were struggling to survive due to drought and weeks later food aid was availed.

In the 2016/17 rainy season, the country received good rains which resulted in most parts of the country recording a bumper harvest.

-@nqotshili