Billionaire mining magnate Patrice Motsepe - along with an array of companies he has a stake in - has pledged R1bn in aid for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
His dip into the coffers places him alongside the Rupert and Oppenheimer families, bringing the total donations intended to combat the pandemic - as well as the economic fallout - to R3bn.
Motsepe said in a virtual press conference yesterday that the cash injection would be structured in separate flows, with an immediate push of several hundred million rands to halt the spread of Covid-19 through the purchase of sanitisers, protective equipment and disinfectants for those on the frontlines.
The second wave would be funds to buttress the education system, building classrooms and computer labs at schools across all the country's nine provinces to avert overcrowding and allow some semblance of social distancing.
"In these challenging, difficult and unprecedented times, it is important that we come together as South Africans and send a clear message to the poor and jobless that we will always be there in whatever way we can," Motsepe said.
Mining magnate Patrice Motsepe donates R1bn to fight the coronavirus pandemic
Image: Martin Rhodes
Billionaire mining magnate Patrice Motsepe - along with an array of companies he has a stake in - has pledged R1bn in aid for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
His dip into the coffers places him alongside the Rupert and Oppenheimer families, bringing the total donations intended to combat the pandemic - as well as the economic fallout - to R3bn.
Motsepe said in a virtual press conference yesterday that the cash injection would be structured in separate flows, with an immediate push of several hundred million rands to halt the spread of Covid-19 through the purchase of sanitisers, protective equipment and disinfectants for those on the frontlines.
The second wave would be funds to buttress the education system, building classrooms and computer labs at schools across all the country's nine provinces to avert overcrowding and allow some semblance of social distancing.
"In these challenging, difficult and unprecedented times, it is important that we come together as South Africans and send a clear message to the poor and jobless that we will always be there in whatever way we can," Motsepe said.
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