RESIDENTS of Izinga showed their spirit of Ubuntu by initiating and spearheading the Thuma Mina Campaign as they distributed more than 3 000 food hampers to the community of Blackburn Village, an informal settlement.

Scores of volunteers from residents in Izinga, helped collect, parcel and distribute hampers to those most affected by the coronavirus nationwide lockdown.

Jeffrey Naidoo, a director in Izinga Phase 1 Home Owners Association, said the initiative and donation was community driven.

Read also: uMhlanga businessman donates 300 000 masks to fight spread of Covid-19

“We knew the hardest hit by this lockdown would be those living in Blackburn Village. So we began crowdfunding as a way to collect money in order to buy items from a supplier. We also had several organisations including NMJ Welfare Durban, Impilo and Sathya Sai International Organisation of South Africa who all came on board with various donations, logistics support and assisting with distribution of food hampers. We bought all our stock from Makro Cornubia who were fantastic in their response to our needs.

“Each of the hampers included maize, rice, tin fish, baked beans, soap, tea bags and various other essential items. We also created an awareness drive and spoken to residents of Blackburn Village about the importance of sanitisers and hygiene. None of this would have been possible without the support of the Izinga community so a huge vote of thanks need to go to them,” Naidoo said.

He added the volunteers were in the process of forming an NPO, called IzOP, or Izinga Outreach Programme as a way of further helping communities in need.

*Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news

Dear reader,

As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.

Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).

You can also sign up for news alerts on Telegram. Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5532.  

Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.