BMW fighting against COVID-19
With the COVID-19 pandemic still challenging the resilience of South Africans across the country, BMW Group South Africa has stepped in to assist the government and essential services.
Answering the call of the Gauteng Department of Health for donations of face masks, BMW SA and its health services department manager, Dr Mpho Makwela, donated over 40 000 high-quality FFP2 face masks to the Gauteng Department of Health. The masks are destined for health services workers testing and treating COVID-19 cases and will assist in mitigating the spread of the virus within health services teams. Furthermore, 15 BMW retail partners have remained open to assist essential services workers. These partners are situated across the country and are assisting South African Police Services, various Metro Police departments, medical personnel and the private vehicles of essential services workers during the lockdown.
In addition to these service centres remaining open, BMW’s On Call and 24-hour roadside assistance operations also remain functioning for when any of the abovementioned essential services personnel experiences unplanned issues. Since the start of the lockdown, BMW On Call has handled more than 900 calls indicating how important these services are.
“We’re all doing our best to manage the impact of this virus on our businesses and communities, we’ve been building cars in South Africa since 1973 and we’re part of the fabric of this country. Our first priority is to care for the health and wellbeing of our associates, and I’m so glad we’re able to keep the wheels of essential services turning at this time of crisis, and that we’ve been able to support the Gauteng Department of Health. If we all do our bit to help, we’ll get through this together,” Tim Abbott, CEO, BMW Group South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.
