SIXTY-TWO-year-old
widow Sibonokuhle Nkomo from Manama village in Gwanda has no idea what she will
feed her two granddaughters for their next meal.
She nervously goes through her cupboards and pots over and
over again with the hope of finding some leftovers, which she could have
possibly missed, but she still finds nothing.
Her three children, who are based in South Africa, have
been her main source of hope as they have been sending her groceries and money
monthly. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all her children have not been working
for the past four months.
“One of my daughters was working at a salon in Cape Town
and she was retrenched in April because of the pandemic,” Nkomo said.
“My other two children work in restaurants in Cape Town,
but because of the lockdown in the neighbouring country their workplaces have
remained closed for the past four months.”
While the restaurants where her two children work are set
to
reopen soon, the staff will be working twice a week, which
means Nkomo’s problems are far from ending.
Nkomo’s children are now struggling to support their mother
and their two teenagers who are under her care.
Nkomo has a small garden where she grows some vegetables,
but the money she makes after selling her produce is hardly enough to sustain
her family. Handouts from neighbours help here and there.
“I used to stock some food each time my children would send
groceries, but we have run out of supplies,” she said.
“My granddaughters need sanitary pads and I don’t know
where I will get them from. “Each day I have sleepless nights wondering what I will
feed them on the following day.
“I travel far trying to sell my vegetables, but the money
is hardly enough.” Nkomo’s daughter who was working in a salon, Memory Nkomo,
moved out of a flat she was renting in South Africa and is now living with a
relative.
Memory is now desperately looking for another job or means
to earn a living, but it is proving difficult because of the prevailing
pandemic.
She says she cannot go back home despite losing her job as
she would only become a burden to her mother.
“I couldn’t afford paying rent as I lost my job and I moved
in with a relative. It pains me that I can’t support my mother anymore and my
child,” Memory said.
“I hope to get a job soon because life has become difficult
for me. I also don’t want to be a burden to the relatives I’m staying with.”
This is the predicament that has befallen several families
in Matabeleland South province that have been relying on remittances from the
neighbouring countries.
According to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment
Committee (ZimVac) Rural Livelihood Assessment of 2019, Matabeleland South
province accounted for most of the remittances from outside Zimbabwe with 31,4%
followed by Matabeleland North which accounted for 11% of the remittances.
Some parents have left their children under the care of
their grandparents and have moved to the diaspora.
They have been relying on omalayitsha to send goods to
their relatives back at home.
Some youngsters that drop out of school due to various
reasons also flock to the neighbouring countries.
Matabeleland South provincial social welfare officer
Criswell Nyakudya said the number of vulnerable households in the province had
drastically increased since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have clients visiting our offices looking for
assistance as their relatives in the diaspora are no longer sending them
anything either because they have lost their jobs or they are failing to send
groceries as the borders are closed,” Nyakudya said.
Nyakudya said the fact that Matabeleland South province
fell under region 5, which is characterised by poor rains, made it difficult
for villagers to rely on farming as a source of livelihood.
He said going to the diaspora was the most accessible
option for many.
“People in Matabeleland don’t have many alternatives when
it comes to livelihoods thus they rely on the diaspora,” Nyakudya said.
He suggested said there was need for the central government
to increase the number of beneficiaries under the drought relief programme as
more households had become vulnerable.
He also encouraged families to come up with alternative
means of survival.
l This article was originally published by The Citizen
Bulletin, a hyperlocal nonprofit news outlet covering COVID-19 in Matabeleland.
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