Groups hand out food and hygiene products in Alexandra and Diepsloot

The Midrand’s Nizamiye Mosque and Horizon Educational Trust together with Time to Care SA started distributing food, blankets and hygiene items to people in the high density townships of Alexandra and Diepsloot this week.

The organisations said in a joint statement that with the money raised in the aid campaign named Together Against Corona, they had over the past week distributed aid in the form of food hampers, blankets, sanitisers, hand soap and bread.

The group has distributed 1,750 blankets, 1,750 food hampers, 2,000 loaves of bread, 1,400 bars of hand soap and 2,400 hand sanitisers.

According to Mustafa Eroglu from Horizon they distributed 1,000 blankets, 1,000 food hampers and 1,000 hand sanitisers in Diepsloot on Friday.

On Thursday the organisations distributed 750 blankets, 750 food hampers, 2,000 loaves of bread, 1,400 hand sanitisers and 1,400 hand soaps to particularly the old and disabled in Alexandra.

“Mosques are locked; people worship at their homes; this is sad for us,” said Huseyin Demirdelen from Nizamiye. “We decided to continue serving humanity during this time and connecting generous South Africans with the people who are in need. Yes, the government help people but we also wanted to be with our brothers and sisters in these tough times.”

Picture: Supplied

The Alexandra event was attended by the Gauteng Legislature’s chairperson of committees Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, who thanked the donors on behalf of Premier David Makhura.

“I am here to receive the gifts from our funders particularly Time to Care, Turkish schools and Uncle Ali. We really want to sincerely thank you for the contribution that you have made for the people of Alexandra, particularly people who are very poor; as you know during the lockdown, they are unable to go out do some piece jobs in order to support their families,” said Nkosi-Malobane.

ericn@citizen.co.za

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