Mozambique: What will Christmas without subsidies be like for thousands of elderly people in Manica province?

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: What will Christmas without subsidies be like for thousands of elderly people in Manica province?

11:43 CAT | 22 Dec 2023

Elderly people typically endure long waits to receive subsidies [Image: Bernardo Jequete/DW]

More than 43,000 elderly people in Manica province have not received their basic social subsidies for 11 months, with some forced to survive on wild fruits and mangoes. With the festivities just around the corner, beneficiaries are asking the government to expedite the payments.

Elderly people receive between 540 and 1000 meticais (€7 to €14) a month – the amount varies depending on the number of people in the household. Some beneficiaries told Deutsche Welle that it was only with this subsidy that they are able to put bread on the table.

But they have not received this money for 11 months, say the beneficiaries, on condition of anonymity: “We are now living ‘de qualquer maneira’. We have no money – we are living on mangoes,” they complain.

One 66-year-old beneficiary of the basic social subsidy in Manica says she cannot do business or grow anything to eat. She is dependent on government support, having no grown-up children, and she lives with her young grandchildren. She says that the upcoming festive season will be particularly difficult.

“Will we live on mangoes during these festivities on December 25th, which is Family Day, and on New Year’s Eve? We sometimes stop people to ask for charity just to feed ourselves. Will it carry on like this?” she asks.

Another interviewee, aged 69, said that the amount of the subsidy – even though it is little – has helped many families: “We are here on the street every day begging. [The government] doesn’t want to give us anything.”

He appeals to the executive to pay at least some of the missing amount, so that they can feed themselves during the festive season.

“We are asking – from now on, the year is over – to give us our money. We need the money this month, we are asking you to please notice us. We also want money for the festivities and the end of the year, to eat as you will eat in your homes,” he pleads.

Government calls for calm and patience

João Manuel, delegate of the National Institute of Social Action (INAS) for Báruè, acknowledges the 11-month delay in payment of the subsidy, promising that the government has not forgotten the beneficiaries. But, he says, there is a lack of money at the moment.

Without offering any deadline, he said that the central government was doing everything it could to ensure that the subsidies were paid, asking for calm and patience.

“From January to this month [December], we have been somewhat constrained due to disbursements, but efforts are being made in the province and at the central level to find the resources to cover the expenses linked to these social protection programs,” he explained.

Asked to comment on the lack of payment of the basic social subsidy, the Secretary of State for Manica province, Fernando Bemane de Sousa, said he would investigate the case, similarly pledging that the state would be able to pay as soon as the problem was identified.

“We’re going to see why they didn’t receive it and how to do it so we can reactivate it. We’re working on the matter,” he said.

Source: Deutsche Welle