Vulnerable individuals in Bulawayo and Harare who are part
of one million identified through the Social Welfare Department to benefit from
the $600 million fund availed by the Government to mitigate the effects of
Covid-19 started receiving cash transfers yesterday.
Beneficiaries are receiving $180 each from the social
safety net fund which, Government said, will be increased soon. In other parts
of the country, registered beneficiaries can expect to receive their allocation
by the weekend.
After the vulnerable, the disbursements will be made to
vendors starting from next week.
Government resolved to cushion vulnerable households, whose
sources of income were affected by the 21-day national lockdown, which is aimed
at mitigating against the spread of Covid-19.
The $600 million package, for three months, was announced
two weeks ago by Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli
Ncube.
Beneficiaries are using their preferred mobile networks to
receive the money.
They realise the full value of the pay-outs after mobile
operators assured that they will not be charged transactional costs when
cashing out.
OneMoney and EcoCash platforms are being used for this
cause.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister
Lovemore Matuke confirmed yesterday that cash transfers had been made for
beneficiaries in Harare and Bulawayo.
“Some households in Harare and Bulawayo started receiving
their cash transfers today. I don’t have the exact number of those who have
received their cash transfers,” said Deputy Minister Matuke.
He said the names of beneficiaries had been sent to network
providers to effect the payments.
“By the end of the weekend, we expect all beneficiaries
across the country will have received their cash transfers,” said Deputy
Minister Matuke.
He said they had faced a challenge of duplication of names
after some people who had submitted their names in different areas.
“However, we managed to correct this and made sure that
each deserving case or individual received a cash transfer once and not
multiple times. We have also been separating vendors and vulnerable people
groups,” said Deputy Minister Matuke.
He said should there be any technical glitches or errors,
people will continue to receive the money even after the lockdown period.
“Those with queries can approach their local leadership,”
he said.
Midlands Provincial Development Coordinator, Mr Abiot Maronge
confirmed to Chronicle that they had received the payout schedule for 15 000
beneficiaries in the province.
“The schedule for the cash transfers is now here meaning
that the beneficiaries can receive the cash transfer anytime,” he said.
Mr Maronge also said Government had also started
distributing basic commodities to residential areas to minimise movement of
people into city centres.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Matuke said he will be in
Bulawayo, Plumtree and Victoria Falls checking on the welfare of the people who
were put in shelters.
“We are coming to Bulawayo, Plumtree and Victoria Falls to
check on the homeless people and other people who were put in quarantine. We
are a caring Government and we are going back to see if our people are living in
good conditions. We also check on those people who are in homes,” he said.
Chronicle
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