From forfeiting R100m while schools are in dire need of infrastructural upgrades to an uproar over a UAE delegation landing at Bulembu Airport, there was never a dull moment in 2023 in the Eastern Cape’s political and administrative affairs. The Dispatch is looking back at the year that was, reflecting on some of the topical issues that had set the news agenda for the province.
Women who head more than 100 destitute families in a remote Cwebeni village in Port St Johns, related how traumatic it was to watch their children cry when they had nothing to eat.
While millions of rand allocated for food aid have been returned unspent to the National Treasury in the past three years, the Eastern Cape social development department has admitted that many people remain trapped in the cycle of poverty as government efforts fail to yield the desired results.
The SA Human Rights Commission has recommended the premier consider declaring a state of disaster due to the high prevalence of child malnutrition in the Eastern Cape so that immediate interventions could be introduced. The recommendation is part of a long list presented by the commission during the launch of the report on an inquiry into child malnutrition and the right to food