There were long queues on Wednesday in Mooiplaas, near Centurion, where 8 000 food parcels were distributed.

Netwerk24 reported that most of the recipients were foreign nationals who struggled to get food since the lockdown was implemented.

Operation SA tweeted that the Tshwane Muslim Community and Sunderland Ridge Business Forum handed out the packages.

Community activist Yusuf Abramjee, who was part of the drive, told Netwerk24 that foreign nationals made up 80% of the community and they did not receive assistance from the government.

One of the co-organisers, Smiley Essa, told Netwerk24 that the operation was launched after it noticed that members of the community walked to various places to find food.

He said people tried to help, but in most cases the community just received bread or about 100 food parcels.

According to the publication, it took the team about 10 days to get enough donations for the parcels and to get permission to hand them out.

Some people started lining up from about 04:00 to ensure they received parcels.

On Wednesday, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said at a media briefing in Pretoria that the government distributed food parcels to the value of R700 per household to more than 58 000 households, or close to 250 000 people, via a "knock-and-drop" system, using its existing community nutrition centre network.

She asked the private sector, which was helping to provide food, to work with communities to help those who need it the most.

"We also don't want to just be a government or society of food parcels," Zulu said of the temporary measure.

Some foreign nationals living in Diepsloot told News24 that they wished they had gone home before the lockdown was implemented because they were struggling to make ends meet or find food.

 - Compiled by Vanessa Banton

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