MTN has allocated R1.5 million to fund relief efforts in parts of the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape that were devastated by strong winds and runaway fires this week.
Large parts of the Western Cape were ravaged by massive storms on Wednesday night, which uprooted trees, damaged telecommunications infrastructure and sparked runaway fires, causing a number of deaths and leaving thousands of people displaced.
“The past few days have been terrible for many people, with thousands being evacuated from their homes in Knysna alone. Reports of loss of life are tragic and our heartfelt sympathies go to the families who may have lost loved ones,” says Graham de Vries, Corporate Service Executive: MTN SA.
The funds that MTN has allocated will be used to secure essentials that the disaster management team has highlighted as critical. These provisions include blankets, food parcels and water to assist people in need.
“MTN is sensitive to the plight of the communities it operates in. Many people that were affected by the devastating weather conditions are the most vulnerable members of the community, including women and children. We hope that our contribution to these relief efforts will help those affected,” says De Vries.
In addition to allocating funds to these relief efforts, MTN has also dispatched an additional 14 engineers to the affected areas to help with expediting repairs and restoring connectivity.
“We are also looking at zero-rating certain emergency numbers in a bid to provide a lifeline to those affected by this calamity. I wish to commend our engineers who worked under challenging conditions throughout the night yesterday to repair damaged infrastructure and successfully restore connectivity,” concludes De Vries.
