Gift of the Givers helping wit

Image: Facebook – Gift of the Givers

Gift of the Givers helping with rebuilding efforts in Masiphumelele

The group’s Ali Sablay said they had to respond immediately to the disaster which happened just over a week before Christmas.

Gift of the Givers helping wit

Image: Facebook – Gift of the Givers

Volunteers from Africa’s largest disaster response NGO, Gift of the Givers, are on the ground helping Masiphumelele residents affected by the massive blaze in which about 4,000 people saw their homes destroyed.

The cause of the fire, which is yet to be determined, ripped through the informal settlement on Thursday.

The settlement’s entire electrical network has been gutted along with a substation.

Water and sanitation infrastructure has also been destroyed and includes over 100 toilets, taps and standpipes.

Immediate response

Several organisations are assisting the community in the wake of devastation.

Some 15 volunteers from Gift of the Givers are on the ground seeing to the humanitarian needs of those left destitute by the fire.

The group’s Ali Sablay said they had to respond immediately.

“For the residents on the ground, COVID-19 was tough for them but at least they had a roof over their head but now with this fire, they are homeless, they are suffering, they have nothing to eat at night…”

Rebuilding efforts

The organisation is supplying hot meals, hygiene packs, blankets and corrugated sheeting to help residents rebuild their lives.

“Our teams will again be on the ground providing hot nutritional meals. The people have requested water – we are taking over 6,000 bottles of water as well. We’ll be making baby care packs, with many of the moms saying that they don’t have nappies.”

Sablay warned that having residents stay at community halls and other buildings posed a risk in light of the rising COVID-19 infection rate.

14 shacks burnt in the township of Masiphumelele in Fish Hoek over the weekend, the Gift of the Givers team responded…

Posted by Gift of the Givers on Friday, October 14, 2016

The teams will be working with residents for the next five to seven days to help ensure that families have food and sufficient shelter in time for Christmas.

Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman says they will be donating food and other essentials while they work on setting up temporary shelters for the residents.

“Our first step as always is to take food for hungry people. There is not much you can do in the initial stages. People are displaced. They don’t know where they are going to stay. They don’t know how badly their homes are damaged. So normally in the first instant, it is always about food distribution and even if possible some clothes and blankets and mattresses.”

People wanting to assist can contact the Gift of the Givers at 0800 786 911 or Ali Sablay on 082 651 4195.