Tsunami relief aid for Somalia
Nombini Matomela
27 January 2005
Cape Town - Shoprite/Checkers has donated four containers of clothing, blankets and food for the Western Cape government to send for distribution among Somalis who were affected by the tsunami disaster.
The retailer has also committed to paying costs for the shipping of the cargo to that country, on a date still to be announced.
Local Government and Housing MEC Marius Fransman received the goods on behalf of the victims at the Shoprite/Checkers Warehouse in Brakenfell on Wednesday. The blankets and clothes were mostly donations collected at Shoprite outlets from customers around the Western Cape.
"Shoprite/Checkers would not have been the biggest retail company in Africa if it were not for the people of Africa that supported us", said marketing director Brian Weyers.
"We believe in being actively involved within the communities in which we do business. We therefore have to reach out to our brothers and sisters in the rest of
Africa.
"A lot of the international aid went to South East Asia, and very few of the countries looked at the needs of Africa", Weyers said. "Unless Africa looks after itself, we are not going to get much help from first world countries."
About 300 Somalis were confirmed dead following the disaster, and more than 54 000 people in the country's coastal villages and towns lost their livelihoods as boats and fishing equipment were destroyed.
Fransman said the donation would give relief to more than 25 000 Somalis who were in desperate need of food and clothing.
Source: BuaNews
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