Vodacom sets up disaster relief fund

12 June 2017 - 16:43 By Staff Writer
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Wildfires burn near Plettenberg Ba.. Strong winds fanned fires destroyed houses and prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents in nearby Knysna.
Wildfires burn near Plettenberg Ba.. Strong winds fanned fires destroyed houses and prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents in nearby Knysna.
Image: STRINGER

Vodacom has set up a R20m disaster recovery fund that will go toward providing much needed support and aid for those most affected when disasters arise.

The fund will also go towards the victims of the recent fires and storms that ravaged parts of the Western Cape. Vodacom will immediately provide access to R10 million from the disaster recovery fund‚ largely to sustain an emergency partnership with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) that is focused on rebuilding or refurbishing schools that have been affected by catastrophe in the Western Cape.

Vodacom will also be assisting with other reconstruction efforts including the distribution of blankets food and water to the affected areas.

Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub says the rebuilding of schools approach is in line with its standing commitment to supporting education that is at the core of the Vodacom Foundation’s corporate social investment efforts.

The company has already deployed 1‚200 starter-pack sim cards loaded with airtime to disaster relief personnel in Knysna to enable better communication and emergency response. This will be extended to include residents in affected areas.

Vodacom has also set up public cell-phone charging stations and Wifi hotspots at various sites that need assistance including the Knysna Joint Operations Control Centre (JOC)‚ said Joosub.

“We have deployed about 40 phones with airtime to the necessary disaster task team leaders and 600 cell-phone charger power banks have been distributed. We also provided 25 laptops‚ 30 tablets and data for the JOC to be used by volunteers on the humanitarian recovery team‚” he says.

From the network perspective‚ Vodacom’s key focus is on keeping its network sites up and many of them are now running off generators.

Other companies that have donated money to assist in the recent disasters are MTN‚ which donated R1.5m to fund relief efforts in parts of the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape. Standard Bank and Absa have also donated millions of rand.

-BusinessLIVE

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now