This article provides a critical overview of Ubuntu practice in the context of the most effective ways to distribute food parcels to vulnerable primary school learners during the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve a child-friendly school environment. Various people and organisations demonstrated Ubuntu to affected families by distributing food packages, as the country was in lockdown. However, there has been limited focus on the importance of the Ubuntu approach within the cultural context's value system in the Tshwane West District. Ubuntu is a concept that refers to a communal way of life, where an individual is not seen outside of the community they belong to, but as part of the community. A qualitative approach was employed, and due to COVID-19, data were generated through telephone interviews of ten participants and media reports. The focus was on people whose children were in school who received food parcels, and those whose children did not receive them despite their needy circumstances. The theory of social justice underpins the thoughts in this article. Findings were that the distribution of food parcels was marred by greed and unfairness. For future projects, the article recommends the Ubuntu way of distribution so that community members and learners are treated fairly without prejudice, discrimination, or stigmatisation towards the learners or the schools they attend.
Loyiso Mennon Luvalo (Thu,) studied this question.