Donations amounting to more than R1.7m helps Sandton SPCA purchase three new rescue cars

A few months after appealing for urgent assistance, Sandton SPCA has reached a major milestone in its campaign to replace ageing vehicles, raising more than R1.7m and buying three brand new cars.

The milestone marks a significant step forward for the animal welfare, which had previously warned that its old and unreliable vehicles were hampering animal rescue operations.

Sandton SPCA general manager Nick Smith said the response from the community has been overwhelming and expressed gratitude to everybody that’s donated and contributed.

“We started a campaign a couple of months back to raise money for new vehicles because the old vehicles were very unreliable and causing us all sorts of problems. We contacted the Sandton Chronicle as part of that campaign to give us some publicity. I’m delighted to say that, as a result of that, we have raised over R1.7m towards these three vehicles which we have today.”

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Smith added that the success of the campaign was driven by a wide range of contributions, from sponsors and the people from the community. “The contributions come from all sorts of different places. One of the trusts which we’ve worked with previously has donated a very large chunk of that and we are super appreciative of that.

“Other monies came from various different sources. People swam the Midmar Mile. They climbed mountains in Morocco. They wrapped gifts for us. They have sold books at our bookshop. We even had people donating their birthday money towards our campaign. Without all of that money coming in we wouldn’t be where we are today.”

While three vehicles are already in operation, Smith said the organisation is so close to securing a fourth, with just one more needed to meet its full target of five. “We’ve got another one, which we are hoping to finalise in the next couple of weeks, which will take us to four, and that will leave one more on our target because we’re looking for five altogether. Thanks to everybody that’s donated and contributed and worked so hard to get us so far.”

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Inspector manager Xolane Mncube also expressed gratitude to those who donated towards their goal and made their campaign a success.

“I’d like to say thank you so much to everybody who participated, and donated towards helping us to make this a huge success. We’ll be able to do proactive work, we’ll be able to do investigations, and we’ll be able to inspect animals, now that the vehicles are in good condition.

@caxtonjoburgnorth WATCH: Sandton SPCA general manager Nick Smith and inspector manager Xolane Mncube thank the community after raising over R1.7m, enabling the Sandton SPCA to buy three new inspector vehicles. Video: Xoliswa Zakwe #caxtonlocalmedia #newsupdate #Communitynews #Localnews #johannesburg #2026 #Sandton ♬ original sound – Caxton Joburg North

“We won’t stuck on the road which is amazing. So, thank you everybody who donated and made this possible, and special thanks to Sandton Chronicle for their continued support. Without you, we won’t be where we are today.”

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