Charles Molele
The Solidarity Fund has raised more than R2.6 billion in pledges within a month of its inception, according to its interim CEO Nomkhita Nqweni confirmed on Thursday.
The donations came from various sources, including government, political parties, businesses and private individuals.
The South African Solidarity Fund was launched a month ago by President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the immediate issues that the country faces in the wake of COVID-19.
The fund, set up with R150 million seed capital donated by government, is a rapid response vehicle designed to fund impactful initiatives that will augment the national health response contributions to national humanitarian efforts.
The fund, chaired by businesswoman Gloria Serobe, also aims to mobilize South Africans to flatten the curve and manage the pandemic and its impacts on households and communities.
At the media briefing on Thursday, Nqweni also announced a 12-member Board to administer the affairs of the fund.
A total of 1 000 companies have donated to the fund and various other organisations, according to Paul Bondi, Lead: Fundraising of the Solidarity Fund.
“Over 70 000 private individuals have also donated to the fund,” he said.
Of the total amount raised, R1.1 billion has been set aside for the healthcare sector for procuring vital PPE for frontline healthcare workers including N95 masks, gloves and gowns,
The fund’s Jonathan Broomberg, Lead: Healthcare – Healthcare interventions, said about 21 million masks have been purchased, along with hundreds of thousands of hand-sanitizers, gloves.
“It is a continuous procurement cycle and supply is rigorously checked for quality. The fund has provided for another 400,000 test-kits and procurement of over 200 ventilators that will arrive in coming weeks,” said Broomberg.
(Compiled by Inside Politics staff)
