Bus tragedy: Money pours in

2003-05-05 20:32

Johannesburg - Many disparate groups took part in a rally on Monday to help families bereaved by the bus tragedy at Saulspoort Dam on Workers' Day when 51 people lost their lives.

The rally in Johannesburg followed a call by the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and was described by Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven as "moving and historic".

To date over R1.5m has been pledged, while several companies have offered to provide help and services to the families of the victims.

City Funerals is to donate 51 coffins while Milestone Funeral Coordinating is offering R100 000 worth of its services.

The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) is to ask its 170 000 members to contribute R1 each to the trust set up for the families. The SA Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) is to donate R150 000 in remembrance of the victims - most of whom belonged to that union.

Sundowns Football Club has pledged R50 000 as has NBC Holdings. Lesaka Holdings is prepared to donate R4 500 to each family bringing its tally to R229 500.

People's Bank, Old Mutual, Vodacom, Harmony/ARM and Prosperity Insurance have all pledged R100 000. A number of other companies have also promised to contribute to the trust fund set up by Cosatu.

Finally the Road Accident Fund, as part of its legal obligations to the families, will contribute an amount of R100 000.

Craven said any funds remaining following the victims' funerals would be used to help the dependants. Meanwhile the pledges continued to pour in.

"Large numbers of small donations are starting to pour in to the Workers' Day Relief Fund," said Craven.

"We are appealing for people to keep the money rolling so we can help the bereaved families."

- SAPA