‘Under investigation’: Johannesburg’s largest food bank forced to close its doors as government launches investigation

This food bank, run by Believers Care Society, closed this week due to funding delays from the Gauteng Department of Social Development. (Kimberly Mutandiro/GroundUp)

• Johannesburg’s largest food bank closed its doors this week.
• This is due to delays in funding from the Gauteng Department of Social Development.
• It is one of at least five food banks that receive thousands of food parcels from their suppliers, but not funds to distribute them.

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According to GroundUp, one of Johannesburg’s largest food banks was forced to close its doors this week due to funding delays from the Gauteng Department of Social Development.

The food bank, run by the Believers Care Society, distributes around 5,000 parcels a month.

Several other food banks in Gauteng are also on the brink of closure due to funding delays. This comes after months of insufficient stock to distribute food parcels to beneficiaries.

Department spokesperson Themba Gadebe said GroundUp Believers Care Society and other food banks were currently “under investigation”.

He did not provide further details about the allegations facing the food bank.

The food bank declined to comment.

According to a senior department official with close knowledge of the situation, there were around 1,800 food packets ready for distribution that were locked inside the food bank building.

Food banks continue to receive packages from vendors contracted by the department, but have not received funds to distribute them.

The official said Believers Care Society had defaulted on rent and the landlord confiscated the keys.

GroundUp visited the food bank in Booysens, Johannesburg, on Monday and found the doors closed.

A security guard at the store told our reporter that the food bank was still open on Friday.

About 20 people work at the facility, the security guard said.

Believers Care Society declined to comment on this.

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Together, the food banks feed thousands of families in Gauteng who rely on the parcels.

The department’s goal is to reach 100,000 households annually through its food security program.

Food banks rely on funding from the provincial Department of Social Development and cannot pay rent or staff salaries.

But GroundUp understands that funds earmarked for operating expenses, including rent and salaries, have not been paid since the start of the financial year.

This, according to one source, was due to a delay in signing service level agreements with the organizations that run the food banks.

According to Social Development Minister Mbali Hlophe’s written responses to questions posed by DA Refiloe Nt’sheke on 26 March, spending on the department’s food aid programs amounted to R185.7 million as of 25 March. February.

This included R17.8 million in food banks and a total of R74 million in food parcels going to HIV homes and clinics.

GroundUp has seen emails between senior social development managers, including former department head Matilda Gasela.

The communication shows that, as of 31 March, no decision had yet been made on which food banks would continue to receive funding during the 2024/25 financial year.

A leaked internal memo from April 17 explains some of the challenges the department’s food program has faced.

Food banks were without food for “most of 2023/24” due to the expiration of the tender for the supply of packages, according to the note from acting deputy director-general Bongani Ngomane. (Ngomane has been named acting head of the department after Gasela left at the end of April.)

In none of the internal communications, seen by GroundUp, is there any mention of Believers Care Society being under investigation.

The leaked memo from April 17 indicated that new suppliers were appointed in February 2024 and had been delivering food parcels to food banks.

But at food banks in Johannesburg and the West Rand, deliveries of food parcels by suppliers were incomplete and in low quantities, according to the memo.

While food packages were being delivered from vendors, the department did not pay food banks to distribute them.

The memo proposes that, pending the outcome of funding allocations for 2024/25, monthly contracts be signed with food banks until May 2024, when the contract for new suppliers ends.

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Each food bank would receive around R600,000 for April and May, according to the memo.

According to GroundUp’s source, some of the food banks already signed the monthly contracts, but there were still problems with processing payments.

Believers Care Society Food Bank has not received any contracts. The future of food bank funding beyond May remains uncertain.

Gauteng Finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo told eNCA in April that the food parcel tender was under investigation.

Meanwhile, thousands of families are suffering and going hungry while their food packages at these food banks are ready to be distributed.