Over 600 masks were handed over to the Soweto Home of the Aged on May 21, along with a voucher that would contribute towards food parcels for residents. They again stepped in to support the local community on May 27, with masks donated to Heidelberg Hospital.

“We have focused our efforts on the production and distribution of high-quality, four-layer cloth masks,” Zeblon Zibane (Metropolitan provincial general manager for the South-Western region of Gauteng) said.

The elderly are particularly vulnerable in terms of suffering the worst effects of the disease, while those who work in hospitals come in to close contact with patients every day, which puts them at increased risk of contraction and transmission.

“The masks may assist in slowing the spread of the virus, while also providing wearers with the sense of safety they need to continue their day-to-day activities.

In line with Metropolitan’s ethos ‘Together we Can’, we believe that a time of crisis calls for increased collaboration, and by joining forces with key partner networks anchored in the communities that we serve, we can improve access to resources that will help South Africans look after themselves and each other,” Zibane concluded.