On Monday, June 8, Members from the Gonaqua First National Authority, the Woman of Transformation, the Southern Development Council and the South African Friends of Israel joined forces to distribute blankets and soup to the needy within the Eldorado Park community.
With hundreds of residents flooding the doors of the Don Mateman Hall in Extension five, Paramount Chief of the Gonaqua tribe, Cornelius Botha, confirmed that although there was sign of wheelchairs as promised, close to 1000 blankets were handed out to families in need.
“I am very happy with how things turned out today. We stand by our promise that we made to the community, we gave them blankets,” said Botha. “The only thing I was worried about were the wheelchairs. The chairs are still being made and still needs to be shipped from Israel to South Africa. Despite the delay, we will arrange another date for distribution once the wheelchairs are ready,” he added.
There were mixed emotions amongst residents who received the blankets, some said that they were happy with the blankets while others said that the size of the blankets were too small.
“People need to understand that if the blankets were made to fit a double bed, there will be no way we would be able to put 1000 on the table. I plan to distribute 1 million blankets across the country. I think these blankets are something to be thankful for, many do not even have warm jackets so these blankets can be used for various purposes,” said Botha.
The Paramount Chief also said that The Gonaqua First National Authority remains committed to serving the people. “We will continue to work together to create sustainable jobs and opportunities for our people. We are planning ahead and are able to send 1000 youngsters to university next year,”
The chief confirmed that a peace treaty was signed amongst officials as a promise to work together in a developing manner. A date for the distribution of wheelchairs is yet to be determined.
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