Retail technology service provider Flash, a subsidiary of the Pepkor Group, has partnered with the DG Murray Trust to launch phase one of a R2 million electronic food voucher system to approximately 7 000 at-risk households in five food insecure communities across the country, commencing this week.
The CoCare Voucher Programme, which was successfully piloted in Ceres in the Western Cape earlier this month, channels essential food aid in the form of a R150 voucher to vulnerable households and beneficiaries via participating Flash retailers and spaza shops.
Flash, which claims to be a technology-driven business, says in the wake of government’s COVID-19 lockdown announcement, it has been designated an essential services provider, as it enables low-income communities and at-risk individuals to purchase essentials like electricity, airtime and data, and make bill payments via its 172 000 Flash shops servicing 24 million customers monthly.
Last night, president Cyril Ramaphosa said life in South Africa will gradually begin to return to normal from next month, with government steadily easing the COVID-19 lockdown regulations, albeit under stringent stipulations.
From 1 May, he said, government will implement a risk-adjusted strategy aimed at easing the current lockdown restrictions. The decision was taken during a National Coronavirus Command Council meeting on Thursday.
Already tested
Developed and funded by Flash, the company says the CoCare pilot project was successfully implemented in Ceres by non-profit organisation, the Development Action Group (DAG), earlier this month and will be ongoing.
Originally targeting 1 000 food-insecure households living on or close to the breadline, the project reported an 80% redemption rate within one week of the CoCare electronic voucher being delivered to beneficiaries’ mobile phones.
Says Flash director Ross Norton: “Based on the success of our pilot project in Ceres, and subject to funding, the CoCare Voucher system can be rolled out to our full retail footprint represented by Flash vendors within a matter of weeks.
“With more than nine million school-going children unable to access the daily nutritious meals they received through the country’s national school nutrition programme, the CoCare system overcomes distribution, security and targeting challenges that make delivering vital food support to the most vulnerable in our society so problematic.”
Explaining how the system works, Norton says the recipient dials a free USSD string (*130*) to get the voucher. They then enter their ID number on the string and this is validated against the central list of recipients. If their ID number is on the list, a voucher number is SMSed to them.
The voucher system has the capability to be redeemed wider than the 170 000 Flash shops and micro-payment processor Kazang has already integrated, giving access to its base of 40 000 shops, Norton says.
GrowGreat, a food security advocacy and support non-profit organisation, is partnering with Flash to provide access to its network of registered community-based organisations in the five identified communities in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
Phase one of the CoCare Programme will target between 1 000 and 1 500 people in each region, providing one R150 CoCare Voucher per household, redeemable within seven days.
Money in a flash
Dr David Harrison, chief executive officer of DG Murray Trust, comments: “Right now, our emergency response to the COVID-19 epidemic is to provide support to those who are excluded from mainstream efforts to protect against the spread of COVID-19 and to mitigate its impacts.
“We are proud to be associated with a programme that directly strengthens household food security by putting an electronic food voucher into the hands of the most at-risk individuals in targeted communities.”
Flash explains that CoCare marketing collateral will be placed outside participating Flash shops with the invitation to those registered under the initiative to redeem their vouchers.
Once registered, the beneficiary will be issued with a unique voucher number that’s redeemable for food and other essential items at any participating Flash shop.
“The benefit of the initiative is that it relies on an existing technology, and takes advantage of an existing physical supply chain and distribution system,” says Norton.
“The CoCare Voucher is delivered via mobile, is free to register for, and offers a reliable and safe distribution mechanism. As a means to help protect the South African economy and stimulate recovery after the lockdown, the CoCare Food Voucher Programme can be extended into a discounted or subsidised offering on basic essential products, also providing liquidity into micro, small and medium enterprises that form the lifeblood of our economy.”
Flash says the intention is to invite funding and participation from corporates, foundations and civil society to support the national extension of the CoCare Food Voucher system across all nine provinces in communities listed by government as critically vulnerable.
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