South Africa News

Oceana Group donates R600K to Gift of the Givers to combat Covid-19

Africa’s largest fishing company, the Oceana Group, has donated R600 000 to Gift of the Givers, who are working with the government to augment public health services during the Covid-19 pandemic. The group has heeded the call to support all efforts at combating the coronavirus and its impact on people and communities. Oceana has partnered with a number of relief organisations to assist essential front-line services, vulnerable communities, as well as Oceana employees.

The funding will be used in conjunction with other donated funds to acquire essential medical supplies and equipment, as well as medical facilities for the testing and treating of Covid-19 patients. The equipment includes surgical masks, latex gloves, head covers and coveralls, 1,500 hazmat suits, mobile testing stations, ventilators, as well as sanitiser and disinfectants. The funds will also be used to help support hospitals such as Chris Hani Baragwanath, Rahima Moosa, Helen Joseph and Northdale, and at immigration points at OR Tambo International, as well as for SAPS and metro police members.

Oceana CEO Imraan Soomra said the company, which produces the Lucky Star brand of pilchards, had also made food parcels, which include more than 30 000 cans of Lucky Star pilchards, available for Gift of the Givers to collect from its various provincial distribution sites to be distributed in communities most in need across South Africa during this time.

Oceana will also be making available more than 146,000 litres of water every day from the company’s desalination plant at Amawandle Pelagic in Laaiplek on the West Coast and also from its cold-storage facility, CCS Logistics, in Epping and Hout Bay sites, to government to assist communities that do not have clean water for essential hygiene and sanitation purposes.

Gift of the Givers

Through the Peninsula School Feeding Association (PSFA), Oceana has been able to make a donation of more than R500 000 to provide a meal to at least 20 000 families for a period of two weeks. And through Rise Against Hunger (RAH), an organisation that Oceana has worked with for over a decade, 51 000 meals have been distributed to children in vulnerable communities.

Oceana will be working with the PSFA to distribute food parcels to all Oceana staff who have been working during the lockdown because as a food-producing company it is regarded as an essential service.

“Charity begins at home and our staff are also our priority during this period,” said Soomra. The company is looking at extending these relief measures to its other regions of operation, including Namibia and the US. We are committed to positively impacting lives during this unprecedented time, not just for our own employees, but for our communities at large,” said Soomra.

“We are proud to be able to play our part in saving lives, both by continuing to function as an essential service during this lockdown period and by assisting front-line operations.”

He added that the company had also established the Oceana Group Fund to recognise employees for their meaningful contribution during the declared national state of disaster. Soomra said that by working together across all sectors of society, the global coronavirus pandemic will be beaten.

In other news – Dr Tumi encouraged people to stream multiple platforms this Easter weekend

Dr Tumi said he was working on releasing an album this weekend, but since the Covid-19 outbreak he decided to put the album on hold. The singer has also been volunteering his services as a doctor at Tembisa Hospital’s specialised Covid-19 unit.

Dr Tumi

Being at home doesn’t mean you can’t have church. There are multiple streaming platforms to tune in to for church at home. Find activities to do as a family, like praying and worshipping together during this difficult period”, he said. Read more

Source: IOL