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Red Cross gives R4m for tsunami
10/01/2005 17:02 - (SA)
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| Tsunami victim is about to receive help as aid workers pile up aid packages at Nagappattinam, in the southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu. (Gautam Singh, AP) |
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Johannesburg - The SA Red Cross Society handed a R4m cheque on Monday to the government's inter-ministerial committee co-ordinating the country's relief efforts after the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.
The general secretary of the society, Leslie Mondo, said the International Federation of Red Cross Societies would be asked to distribute the money to African countries hit by the tsunami.
Mondo said: "We will request that the IFRC dedicate the second transfer towards Red Cross work in Africa, wherein it has been estimated that 150 people died in Somalia and 54 000 were affected."
Most of the money handed over on Monday were donations by the public.
It was collected by Pick'n Pay, Netcare, Absa and the Red Cross.
Last week, the Red Cross handed over a cheque for R2.5m.
Pick'n Pay CEO Sean Summers said the response from the public had been good.
Search for SA tourists to continue
"We're overwhelmed by the support from our customers."
The chairman of the inter-ministerial committee, Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi, said the search for South Africans in the affected countries would continue.
Ten South Africans have been confirmed dead and 361 are still missing.
A delegation from the government, led by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, went to Indonesia last week to attend a summit on the earthquake and tsunami which hit Asia on December 26.
Mufamadi said the delegation managed to determine areas of need in the affected countries.
The government has since made easier the delivery of 40 tons of medical equipment to the Maldives, while medical teams were flown to Indonesia.
When asked whether the government would match the amount donated by the South African public, Mufamadi said the relief effort was not an auctioneering opportunity.
Mufamadi said: "Everybody should give according to their ability."
He said Tshabalala-Msimang would attend a work section in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday on relief efforts in Asia.
The work section has been organised by the United Nations and South Africa was invited as one of the countries that could supply relief at "ground level" to affected areas.
- SAPA
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