LOCAL health care workers received a much-needed boost recently, when Willowton Group, a leader within South Africa’s FMCG sector and Africa’s leading edible oil processor, donated R1,2 million to provide 5 000 PPE packs and 1 000 theatre scrub sets to Gift of the Givers, to aid in the fight against COVID-19 in the Eastern Cape.
Speaking at the handover in Pietermaritzburg, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, founder and CEO of Gift of the Givers, said Willowton Group had agreed to donate the money to provide this urgently needed equipment for front-line health care workers and volunteers in the region, who were assisting Gift of Givers to care for people who had tested positive.
“It is well known that the Eastern Cape and the Garden Route are the epicentres of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa.
“The donation is intended to help protect the many front-line volunteers who risk their lives on a daily basis to help those who are battling this infection,” he said.
Zubeir Moosa, CEO of the Willowton Group, said that they had reached out because of the urgent need.
“This fits in with our philosophy to help those in need. Our donations are made in areas that have the most need throughout Southern Africa,” he said.
“We are invested in the well-being of South Africans and will do all that we can to assist our fellow South Africans,” Moosa said.
He praised Gift of the Givers for the work that it had done to help manage the pandemic so far and the work that it would continue to do as the second wave of infections spreads across South Africa.
“It is one of the best and most organised charitable organisations in the world.
“They identify a need, find the equipment and go without invitation and are most often the first and fastest responders,” Moosa pointed out.
The equipment was distributed throughout the Eastern Cape, particularly the Sarah Baartman district, Butterworth and Mthatha, as well as to those working in major cities such as Port Elizabeth and East London.
Issued by: Willowton Group
