SA opens hearts and wallets
2005-01-04 11:00
Waldimar Pelser and Pieter du Toit
Johannesburg - Amidst the rising death toll in the tsunami disaster in South East Asia, South Africans have opened the hearts and their wallets to the survivors and victims of the floods.
While there are still 1 137 South Africans who have not contacted friends, family or the department of foreign affairs, two Cape surgeons - and more than R1.2m raised locally for disaster aid - are on their way to South East Asia to lend their support in the biggest emergency aid operation ever. Sapa reports that the official death toll now stands at nearly 150 000.
The two Cape Town doctors both work at the Red Cross Children's Hospital in Rondebosch and are expected to arrive in disaster-torn Thailand on Tuesday. Doctors Heinz Rode and Angus Alexander, both paediatricians, were on leave when a colleague approached them to join the support effort for tsunami victims.
Commenting on the missing South Africans, deputy minister of foreign affairs Aziz Pahad said the fact that these local tourists were unaccounted for did not mean that they were dead.
News of many who are safe
"Apart from this figure, we have had confirmation that 1 820 South Africans, who were in the area at the time of the disaster, are safe."
He added that the official South African death toll stood at seven on Monday evening.
The exact extent and nature of the aid to disaster areas in Southeast Asia and Africa will only be determined after an international conference in Indonesia on Thursday.
"South Africa wants to make a significant contribution to the future of these people in the disaster areas." Mufamadi said.
"We are calling on the public, non-governmental organisations and the private sector to send all donations to a central point to allow us to make a big contribution in that way."
Retail group Pick 'n Pay, Netcare and the Red Cross had raised more than R1m by Monday from "thousands" of South Africans who phoned to contribute money, time and food.
Cape Town Red Cross workers who were on holiday when the tsunami struck were called back to co-ordinate disaster management, a spokesperson for the organisation said.
"This (the Red Cross relief effort) will last for six months. The deposit slips are mounting. We will transfer more than R1m to the International Red Cross this week."
Families desperate
First National Bank had raised R232 775 for victim support by Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the families of missing South Africans are becoming more desperate by the day.
Two family members of Anita de Gouveia, 49, and her husband, Tony, 55, have gone to search for the couple. Family members of Avadya Berman, 31, from Johannesburg, who was on holiday on Phi Phi with his girlfriend Nicola Liebowitz, 30, will leave for Thailand on Wednesday to search for him.
Other missing South Africans are Bevan Panaino, Bernino Loreo and his girlfriend, Heather, Dilly Findlay, Anna Fitzgerald and Lisa Lung.