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Solidarity today announced that it will donate R250 000 to the Solidarity Movement’s Crisis Fund to ensure that people who have been hit by the catastrophic floods in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) get the help they need.

According to Solidarity, the government cannot be relied on to manage its funds reliably and it is precisely those who are most in need who suffer the most as a result of the corruption that has the ruling party in its stranglehold. It is in this knowledge, Solidarity says, that helping each other in times of need is an essential party of our being. That is why an appeal is made to the community at large to see if the amount of R250 000 can be doubled through contributions from outside. 

“The devastation in KwaZulu-Natal that we are seeing live is terrible not only because thousands are suffering but also because the institutions that should assist them are not there to do so. It is in the knowledge that the government’s inability will spill over to disaster management that Solidarity donated R250 000 to the Solidarity Movement’s Crisis Fund to ensure that help reaches those who need it most,” Dr Dirk Hermann, Solidarity Chief Executive said. 

According to Dr Hermann, the government’s disaster management mandate simply offers little reason for hope. “However, it is still crucial to bring relief where destruction has been wrought. To ensure that we put our money where our mouth is Solidarity Helping Hand has already sent a crisis management team to KwaZulu-Natal to assess the extent of the disaster and to determine an appropriate response.”

According to Hannes Noëth, executive director of Solidarity Helping Hand, for its part, added an additional contribution of R100 000 to Solidarity's amount for assistance in KwaZulu-Natal.

“Of course it is important that the immediate distress caused by the floods is addressed. It is, however, important to address of KZN’s problems in its triple nature. Over the past year, this province has been hit hard by Covid-19, the June riots and now the past week’s devastating floods. The reality people are facing is that thousands of people have been left homeless, hundreds have died and damage of millions of rands have been wrought as a direct result of the heavy rainfall,” Dr Hermann explained. 

Solidarity further emphasises that private intervention is needed to ensure that people do get aid that is tangible. That is why it is important that contributions from the community, together with Solidarity’s contribution are used as effectively and comprehensively as possible. To make the aid tangible and in the spirit of accountability ongoing feedback will be given on how and in what form the aid is provided. Solidarity is of the opinion that all aid from all quarters is important and is welcome – provided that it is managed by an entity that is far-removed from the government. 

It is great to see how people can stand together in a time of need and the people of KwaZulu-Natal now need all the support their fellow South Africans can offer. The distress that has been caused is of such a nature that it calls for immediate relief, but at the same time we have to think about how people can be helped to get back on their feet despite the disaster. This is our focus – to help people now but also to keep thinking about what the way forward holds,” Dr Hermann concluded. 

For contributions to the Solidarity Movement’s crisis fund: 

Account Holder: SOLDARITEIT HELPENDE HAND
Bank: FNB
Account number: 62 331 445 503
Branch: Centurion (Branch Code: 250 655)
Reference: KZN
Swift code: FIRN ZA JJ

Issued by Solidarity