MTN SA Foundation General Manager, Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi
by SAVIOUS KWINIKA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – MTN, through its foundation, is stepping in to help with the supply of thousands of face masks and hand sanitisers as these run out amid the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in South Africa.
Supplies are being delivered to provincial health departments across all nine provinces.
Despite limited supply globally, MTN SA’s Foundation team has worked around the clock to secure as many as 30 800 face masks and 18 000 bottles of hand sanitisers worth R1,9 million.
In addition, MTN is working with key South African non-profit organisations that have actively been involved in working with communities during the pandemic.
Each of these organisations are receiving an MTN data SIM and WiFi modem.
The SIM cards are loaded with 30GB of free data per month, for a period of six months, to assist them during their humanitarian and community upliftment initiatives.
This initiative by MTN is in response to the call of President Cyril Ramaphosa for the private sector to play a greater role in helping the country eliminate the COVID-19 scourge.
Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi, General Manager of the MTN SA Foundation, noted the World Health Organisation (WHO) encouraged a strong health system to defeat the pandemic.
“MTN is going the extra mile to help ensure our health system is able to withstand the strain it is facing. We will continue to assist in any way we can to ensure SA (South Africa) and its people get through this crisis together,” Mtunzi-Hairwadzi assured.
She said technology had a crucial role to play in keeping families connected and businesses functioning during this challenging time.
“Our ability to harness networks, boost data connectivity and partner with key suppliers regionally will increasingly come to the fore, and it is through initiatives like the above that we can make a real difference for societies and communities countrywide.”
With over 1 686 cases and 12 deaths, South Africa is the country worst affected by COVID-19 in the African continent.
– CAJ News