By Kefiloe Kajane
With many Basotho households having been affected by Covd-19, the biggest brunt of the pandemic is felt by indigent families with no stable source of income apart from odd jobs.
Such households are found in abundance in the Metsimaholo community council of Tṧakholo in the Mafeteng district, where some families are headed by children because they are double orphans, while some have been left to their own devices by parents who have migrated to neighbouring South Africa to look for jobs.
This is where the European Union (EU) chips in. It has provided €5.5million to help ease the social hardships that many vulnerable households in the country face because of the COVID-19 pandemic. These households will receive cash transfers. This support is expected to reach about 57, 000 households in total.
Existing child grant beneficiaries of 50,000 households will receive a ‘top up’ cash transfer child grant. This means households who currently receive M360 (for one to two children), M600 (three to four children) and M750 (five and above). They will all receive an additional M1,500 for three months.
One of the beneficiaries of the child grant top up, ‘Maphehello Khaile, said the money will surely make a difference and it comes at the right time when schools are reopening.
Khaile stays with three grandchildren aged between seven and 16, all of who have lost their parents to death. She said providing for the children has been an uphill task and was compounded by the lockdown when the children are at home and consume more food than when they go to school.
“We normally receive M360 quarterly and, with the children at home, it was a real struggle but now this top up will ease our problems. I will be able to buy the new uniforms and more food supplies to last until month end when I get my pension money,” Khaile said.
Another beneficiary, Maboee Lenko, says he looks after four kids whose parents are also deceased. He said since the start of Covid-19, they have been depending entirely on the child grant as he could not go to his normal piece jobs because of the restriction of movements.
He said it has been trying times for the family as they would sometimes go to bed on an empty stomach when he could not beg from neighbors. He said the situation improved slightly after the recent rains as he was then able to plant vegetables in his backyard garden. With the top up child grant he will be able to buy other things that the children will need for school, not just food.
“This Covid-19 has really hit us hard, especially those of us who live from hand to mouth. I am the type of person who is used to doing things for myself to make sure my grandkids have a better life, but this virus tied our hands.
“This money is really going to help us for some time, and I will make sure to use it carefully so it can last us,” he said.
The minister of social development, ‘Matebatso Doti, thanked both EU and Unicief for their intervention in this regard, and expressed government’s delight that the children will return to school on full stomachs.
At the same occasion, EU Ambassador Christian Manhl said people should protect themselves and those around them, hence the importance of following Covid-19 preventative restrictions.
“We can only defeat the pandemic if we work together. The EU support comes as solidarity with the people of Lesotho, but also presents the importance of working together to defeat the pandemic,” he said
For her part, Unicef Lesotho Representative Anurita Bains noted that the impact of Covid-19 has been profound on children.
“Food insecurity has had a direct impact of children’s nutritional status and well-being. A year of school closures has been devastating for children, their families and communities.”
