Gift of the Givers raises more than R50m for relief after riots

Despite the cold, Covid lockdown restrictions, and the collective state of confusion with widespread violent protests, good Samaritans came out in numbers to give more than 67 minutes on Mandela Day yesterday.

Hennops Revival in Centurion devoted its 67 minutes for Mandela Day to cleaning up at the Sorex Estate in Centurion, in memory of one of their own “water warrior” friends who recently died. Tarryn Johnston, the founder of Hennops Revival, said the initially planned clean-up for the crew in memory of their friend quickly turned into a four-hour operation with 43 volunteers on the day.

“I was contacted by the Kopano Manyano God the Founder Centre homeless shelter who asked to join forces with us for the day,” Johnston said. With the help from the volunteers from the shelter, they managed to fill 367 black bags with rubbish.

ALSO READ:

Johnston said the “fallen warrior” was a dear friend of the organisation, Charles Barrell, who was also the Gauteng provincial head of Move One Million.

“There are not enough words of thanks to sharing about Charles and his commitment and enthusiasm to making the world a better, cleaner, healthier and more sober place, your legacy will remain for aeons to come,” Johnston said.

In KwaZulu-Natal, Gift of the Givers spent Mandela Day distributing essential and staple items, such as bread and milk, to homes in various suburbs as part of their crisis intervention relief project following the destructive protests in the province last week.

Speaking on Mandela Day about relief efforts, Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said the support his organisation had received had been incredible. Sooliman said Gift of the Givers had been contacted by various embassies and the American Chamber of Commerce about donating essentials and food for those in need in KwaZulu-Natal.

Donations from private and corporate donors, including Vodacom, totalled more than R50 million so far. “Tell the people there is no need to panic, we won’t run short of food or items.

“The only difficulty we have is to get the food to the areas that have been burned down completely,” Sooliman said.“We have gotten support from South Africans from all walks of life, rich, poor, black, white, Indi-an, coloured, everybody. “The support has been absolutely phenomenal,” Sooliman said. – marizkac@citizen.co.za